A 100th year in review

In 2023, West turned 100. As I look back across the year, I am proud to be part of this amazing organization. Our 100th year in service was a time to reflect on our heritage, celebrate everything we have achieved and look forward to our future with a renewed sense of determination.

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West is a global market leader of innovative, high-quality injectable drug packaging and delivery systems supporting the therapeutic and vaccine needs of global pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies.

If you have ever been vaccinated, or if you or a loved one has ever needed to take an injected medicine, the injectable drug mostly likely was contained or delivered with a West product.

Our founder, Herman O. West, had a vision to innovate new solutions that would improve patients’ lives around the world. His principles of ‘never standing still’ and ‘always doing good’ have remained steadfast since our very beginnings.

Still to this day, our philosophy remains grounded in the important role we play in delivering life-saving medicines and the knowledge that every component we produce has a patient’s name on it.

Today we are 10,000 team members working together across 50 sites worldwide, to deliver over 47 billion components and devices each year. That’s over 128 million products every day… trusted by our customers… making a difference to patients. And throughout this year, we continued to expand our manufacturing capabilities so that we can continue to meet our customers’ needs into the future.

In our 100th year we worked hard to fulfill our purpose of improving patients’ lives around the world. And we also celebrated reaching this incredible milestone with a network of our local champions, all around the world – Team 100. They masterminded local anniversary celebrations at each of our global locations. It has been inspiring to see our team members coming together, having fun, building bonds and creating memories.

Sustainability and corporate responsibility remain a continued focus for West. We have continued to give back to the communities we serve. Collecting more than 751,000 meals during our annual food drive and raising $340,000 during our West without Borders* Campaign, our employee-led giving program. We were excited to have partnered with the Philadelphia Eagles on our Field Goal Forest initiative and collaborate with Corning® for sustainable drug delivery with the launch of Viridian® vials.

The past few years have been a reminder that the world doesn’t stand still. And the needs of the healthcare industry are evolving and growing in complexity, from novel molecules and therapies to the increasing expectations of patients to shift treatment options from the hospital to the home setting.

West remains committed to the pursuit of scientific innovation and partnerships to address the changing needs of today and the next 100 years. Earlier this year we opened a state-of-the-art R&D Lab in Radnor, Pennsylvania supporting enhancements in chemistry, materials sciences and biology. This facility will allow us to bring our scientific and technical expertise together, so we can continue to define what’s possible in improving patients’ health.

I have immense pride for all that our One West Team has achieved in 2023 and honored to have had the opportunity to celebrate our 100 years in business together. May the holiday season bring you peace and joy, and a happy new year ahead.

*West without Borders is not affiliated with Doctors Without Borders®, which is a registered service mark of Bureau International de Médecins San Frontières.