(Shenzhen, April 21, 2026) – On April 20, 2026, The International Society for Pharmaceutical Engineering (ISPE) has officially announced the winners of the 2026 Facility of the Year Awards (FOYA) at the ISPE Europe Annual Conference in Copenhagen, Denmark. As the premier global awards program recognizing excellence and innovation in pharmaceutical engineering and manufacturing, FOYA is widely regarded as the "Oscars" of the industry. Hepalink’s Pingshan New Pre-filled Syringe Manufacturing Facility has been honored with the Innovation – Novel Technology category award for its breakthrough innovations in the field of pharmaceutical formulation manufacturing, joining an elite list of global pharmaceutical leaders on this year’s roster, including Sanofi, Bayer, Eli Lilly, AstraZeneca, and Takeda.

▲Source: ISPE official website

▲Source: ISPE official website

This award-winning project ‘Shenzhen Hepalink Pingshan New Pre-filled Syringe Manufacturing Facility’ is a strategic hub for Hepalink’s high-end finished dose formulation (FDP) capacity, primarily producing Enoxaparin Sodium injections for global anticoagulation and antithrombotic markets. Officially completed on February 4, 2025, the project covers a total floor area of 297,715 square feet with an annual production capacity of 330 million units and has secured EU GMP certification.

The Pingshan project features several critical innovations tailored to the complex manufacturing requirements of Enoxaparin Sodium products, achieving breakthroughs in real-time control, sterile logistics, intelligent inspection, flexible coordination, and spatial efficiency:

• 5G-Enabled Ecosystem: It utilizes a fully sunken 5G multi-access edge computing architecture, achieving network latency of less than 10ms for real-time equipment interconnection and data control.


• Zero-Touch Logistics: Its seamless integration of 5G automated guided vehicles with vaporized hydrogen peroxide transfer chambers is an industry-first—achieving a fully unmanned material flow from the warehouse to Grade A isolators.


• AI Process Intensification: The facility features an all-in-one nest removal and inspection machine, powered by deep learning-based AI, which eliminates glass-to-glass contact and inspects 24,000 units/hour with 100 percent defect detection.


• Digital Twin Synergy: The facility established a digital twin collaborative model between the Pingshan and Nanshan sites, allowing for rapid transfer of technical resources and production recipes.


• Technical Problem-Solving: The project successfully addressed several industry challenges, such as pump seizing for high-viscosity drugs and glass breakage during high-speed inspection.


• Vertical Integration: To overcome extreme land scarcity, the project embedded a 24-meter-high automated stereoscopic warehouse into the facility's core, increasing space utilization by 52 percent compared to traditional layouts.

▲5G automated guided vehicle (AGV)

▲Automated stereoscopic warehouse

▲High-speed visual inspection machine

With these key features, this project is recognized as a lighthouse project, selected for the China Ministry of Industry and Information Technology “2025 5G Factory Directory”. Notably, its "zero-touch" design directly contributed to a 100% success rate in the first media-fill simulation, setting a new industry standard for sterility assurance. By adding 330 million units of annual capacity, Hepalink will further enhance its stable supply capacity for the global market and continuously provide high-quality medicines and services to more patients.

With nearly three decades of dedication to the heparin field, Hepalink has persistently advanced the vertical integration of its entire value chain, from raw materials, API, and formulations, to quality systems and global commercialization. Its core product, enoxaparin sodium injection, has received market approval in 78 countries and regions and is commercially available in more than 50 countries and regions. Long standing experience serving high standard international markets has given Hepalink a deep and sustained understanding of quality consistency, supply stability, audit verifiability, and localized delivery timelines, continuously driving the evolution of its manufacturing systems to closely align with global market requirements. It is precisely this accumulation of capabilities that forms the fundamental basis for the Pingshan project’s success in standing out during international expert evaluations; it also highlights the systemic advantages of Hepalink’s ‘industrialisation platform + commercialisation platform’, which have been forged through long-term synergy: on the one hand, high-standard manufacturing ensures product consistency and delivery capability; on the other, global operations continuously refine facilities, processes and procedures, enabling the manufacturing system to evolve in step with actual market demands.

Looking ahead, Hepalink will continue to enhance the intelligent manufacturing and global delivery capabilities for high‑end formulations, safeguarding health with high‑quality medicines and services, and contributing to the high‑quality development of the biopharmaceutical industry.

About 2026 ISPE FOYA

The ISPE Facility of the Year Awards (FOYA) recognize benchmark projects in the global pharmaceutical and biopharmaceutical manufacturing sector. The 2026 award-winning projects span multiple continents and therapeutic areas, embodying the continuous progress of global pharmaceutical manufacturing in innovation, operational excellence, supply chain collaboration, Pharma 4.0™ and social impact.

This year’s projects showcase multi-dimensional upgrades in the design, construction and operation of pharmaceutical facilities, covering modular and digital manufacturing pathways, sustainability-oriented infrastructure construction, more efficient project execution, and integrated collaboration of quality and supply systems. Collectively, these projects reflect the vital value of engineering technology, advanced manufacturing capabilities and cross-functional collaboration in addressing evolving regulatory requirements, operational challenges and social needs, as well as the ongoing shift of the global pharmaceutical manufacturing system toward higher quality, greater reliability and stronger patient-centricity.