For sustainable intimate health, today and tomorrow

By nurturing and caring for the environment and ensuring that none of our actions negatively impacts the planet, we help build a strong foundation for a sustainable future – for generations to come.

Environment, products, and people – our foundation

Our sustainability builds upon three pillars: our environment, our products, and our people.

Environment

In all that we do, we nurture and care for the environment to make sure that none of our actions have a negative impact on the planet, neither directly nor indirectly. Throughout our production process, we cause no harm to nature, animals, or human beings. You can read more about our waste recycling practices below.

Product

We provide products that help women all over the world take care of their intimate health. We take pride in offering products that are clinical-dermatological tested, and free from hormones, parabens, silicones, and spermicides. Our product range is suitable for women who are pregnant or lactating, have allergies or skin problems, or are vegan.

People

Last, but not least; if it wasn’t for our people, none of this would be possible. To ensure that our products are of the highest quality and offer our customers the very best, we continuously support the wellbeing of our employees. This is done through continuous training and education, individual career planning and promoting competence, and advocating and respecting human rights.

From raw materials to products – our manufacturing process

Uula Intimate is manufactured and powered by Galena Pharma Oy, an ISO 14001:2015, ISO 13485:2016, and GMP certified pharmaceutical company located in Finland that specializes in contract manufacturing and packaging services for pharmaceuticals and health products.  Manufacturing is one of Galena Pharma’s core services. A shared goal for the whole organization, it is central to Uula Intimate’s production process. We work closely with quality assurance (QA), product development, production staff and supervisors to ensure the best possible product quality through efficient working methods. Our operations are supervised and monitored by several authorities to ensure required compliance. In addition, we have several customer audits annually.

Procurement of materials

The first step in the manufacturing process of Uula Intimate is the timely procurement of raw materials and packaging materials from suppliers. All our suppliers are carefully selected based on criteria and competence, including quality assurance (QA), environmental friendliness, and Good Manufacturing Practice (GMP).  Thanks to Galena Pharma’s comprehensive audit program, we can ensure our partners and suppliers’ compliance of regulations. The quality control (QC) team continuously monitors, accesses, and audits the competence of suppliers and the raw materials used.  The QC team approves the production process and ensures its compliance with regulatory requirements. Production is executed by trained staff and modern equipment, and regularly monitored by the QC team.

Manufacturing

The manufacturing of Uula Intimate takes place at Galena Pharma’s ISO:14001 certified pharmaceutical plant in Kuopio, Finland. All products are manufactured by trained and skilled staff with modern equipment on premises that meet the criteria for pharmaceutical production, i.e. Good Manufacturing Practices (GMP) and ISO 13485:2016. The manufacturing process includes the weighing, mixing, screening, and dissolution of ingredients under strict quality control (QC). Products are formulated according to the GMP applicable for each product. Ingredients and product parameters are optimized to reach the best possible efficacy and safety profile.  No ingredients of animal or human origin are used in the pre-formulation and formulation stages of the development process. All products are free from hormones, parabens, silicons, and spermicides. Thus, they’re suitable for vegans, and safe for both nature and humans.

Packaging and logistics

Once manufactured, the products find their way into their final packaging. Through regular audits, we make sure our partners’ comply with our sustainability requirements and ISO 14001. Based on batch samples and in-work documentation, the manufacturing and packaging process is inspected by Galena Pharma’s quality assurance (QA). Only after that does it get accepted for delivery to customers for sale. Moreover, our logistics operations are in line with ISO 14001. We ensure that our delivery vehicles are fully packed when leaving the premises, thus adopting effective and efficient delivery.

Waste recycling

In 2022, Galena Pharma’s goal is to reduce the amount of mixed waste produced by 30 %. In accordance wiht our waste recycling plan of 2021, we separately recycle the cardboard, clear plastic, packaging plastic, and metal generated in our operations. In all our operations, we aim to minimize the amount of waste generated in the production process. We optimize our inventory in accordance with the FEFO (First Expired, First Out) principle, making purchases only based on demand and design our production methods to minimize waste and loss.  We aim to increase the efficiency of our waste recycling. We provide adequate resources to organize and make recycling easy and accessible for all our staff at all stages of the manufacturing process, train our staff, and plan our recycling and waste management operations together with the local environmental authority and water treatment plant. We emphasize digital communication and minimize the use of paper, thus generating less paper waste. Our products contain no chemicals, which means that the small amounts of water waste generated in our production process cause no harm to the environment. The waste water is released into the sewer system, through which it passes to the water treatment plant, where the water is treated before it enters natural waters, such as lakes and rivers.  Lastly, we only use environmentally friendly cleaning products made in Finland in a carbon-neutral manner, so the cleaning products used in production do not burden the environment.

Hygiene standards and quality control

The entire manufacturing process – from raw material procurement to finished product delivery – is monitored by Galena Pharma’s quality control (QC) team. Specific cleaning procedures of the production premises, production equipment, and staff clothing are defined and controlled by QC, who verifies the cleanliness of the premises by sampling and analysis. Manufacturing and packaging processes are assigned specific clean zone areas. Galena Pharma has a high standard hygiene program, which contains training and qualification of personnel, validated cleaning processes, and continuous environmental monitoring. The four eyes principle is always applied on line clearance before each manufacturing and packaging batch.

Employees

All employees who work with Uula Intimate are trained in-house. In addition to that, depending on the job description, each employee receives additional task-specific training to meet the operating requirements of the task at hand. The competence of our production staff is regularly monitored and audited by Galena Pharma’s quality assurance (QA) team. Accuracy, calmness, and adequate technical understanding are prerequisites for personnel operating in the production facilities. GMP and hygiene training are performed regularly to all staff.

Uula Intimate is powered by Galena Pharma

Uula Intimate is manufactured by Galena Pharma Oy, an ISO 14001:2015, ISO 13485:2016, and GMP certified pharmaceutical company in Finland that specializes in contract manufacturing and packaging services for pharmaceuticals and health products.  A standard for environmental management, ISO 14001:2015 is an internationally recognized certificate that confirms a company’s understanding and responsibility towards the environment in its operations, while ISO 13485:2016 specifies the quality management system (QMS) requirements for organizations. GMP (Good Manufacturing Practice), in turn, is a set of principles and procedures followed in the manufacturing and quality assurance of medicinal products to ensure they meet production requirements set by authorities.

Environmental responsibility at Galena Pharma

Environmental responsibility lies at the core of all of Galena Pharma’s operations. Our environmental management system complies with the ISO 14001 certification and sets the foundation for all our processes from product development to delivery.  In everything we do, we strive to produce products that are environmentally responsible. In our operations, we support sustainable raw material manufacturers, producers, and packaging solutions. By optimizing our production methods for waste-reducing, we focus on minimizing waste. Together with our customers, we are constantly developing new and existing products to be more environmentally responsible.   In line with Galena Pharma’s environmental management system and ISO 14001 requirements, we annually define our ecological perspectives, the environmental risks and opportunities of our business operations, and overall environmental goals. Management reviews these perspectives and makes decisions in line with achieving our goals. Key to achieving them is having a committed management team that provides sufficient resources for environmentally responsible operations. We continuously strive to make our environmental management system as efficient and effective as possible. To stay ahead of the curve, we regularly document and review new regulations and certifications, and act immediately on any relevant updates that could bring changes in our operations.