On Thursday, April 10, 2025, students from our school Chemistry Club (supervised by Christodoulos Makedonas) and Biology Club (supervised by Katerina Ntakou), along with students from the 12th grade of the Health Orientation, visited the factory of FAMAR pharmaceutical company in Alimos. The visit was part of the Chemistry Club’s activities (a member of the American Chemical Society’s ChemClubs network), which this year included a special unit on medical and pharmaceutical chemistry.
FAMAR (https://www.famar-group.com/) is one of Greece’s leading pharmaceutical companies. Founded back in 1949, it now operates six production facilities—in Greece (Alimos, Avlonas, Anthousa), Spain (Alcorcon), and Italy (Baranzate)—as well as two R&D centers in Avlonas and Alcorcon. The company has a presence in 80 countries and its sales in Greece amount to €150 million.
Our visit began in the conference room, where the Quality Manager Ms. Georgia Tomara and the Production Manager Mr. Andreas Vasilatos presented to our students the operations of FAMAR. They then introduced the layout and capabilities of the Alimos production unit, which primarily manufactures injectable solutions and eye drops. Their presentation emphasized the company’s strict hygiene and safety protocols, which ensure that the final product meets high-quality standards and complies with regulatory authorities such as the National Organization for Medicines (EOF).
Next, Ms. Tomara guided our group through the laboratories where quality control takes place. There, we discussed both the process and methods of sampling and the techniques used in chemical and microbiological analysis.
The tour continued through the receiving and storage areas, where the Warehouse Manager Mr. Kostas Papaspyrou explained the path that raw materials follow before entering the production unit, as well as the journey of the finished product to its final destination. He also described the role of the company’s distribution center in Avlonas.
Mr. Vasilatos then took us on a tour of the main production area (excluding clean rooms), where our students had the opportunity to learn how an active pharmaceutical ingredient is transformed into a finished medicine. They also witnessed firsthand what the strict implementation of hygiene measures looks like in practice.
Lastly, we visited the packaging department, where Mr. Nikos Bonatsos explained the process a vial undergoes to receive its commercial packaging.
Our visit concluded where it began—in the conference room—where students had the opportunity to ask questions and discuss anything they were curious about.
We would like to express our special thanks to the Director of the Alimos Factory, Ms. Emmanuela Platanaki, for making this visit possible and for the warm hospitality we received, to the aforementioned staff and production unit managers for their time, presentations, and willingness to answer all our questions tirelessly, and to Ms. Theodora Karavasili for organizing our visit.
