With the initiative, the New York-headquartered pharmaceuticals giant said it wants to position the site’s modular aseptic processing (MAP) facility as “one of the most technologically advanced sterile injectable facilities in the world.”

The upgrade, which follows a $465 million investment at the site at the end of 2017, is expected to create around 300 new jobs for analysts, technicians, engineers, scientists, technologists, quality specialists, data analysts and chemists.

In the second phase of the long-term capital-spending project, the company said it will add advanced aseptic manufacturing equipment, systems and design, including self-contained modular manufacturing lines, at the Portage, Michigan, complex. The focus will be on products that rely on mRNA and ultra-low temperature storage.

Principally, the Kalmazoo site makes liquid and semi-solid medicines in addition to active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs). Along with the Comirnaty-branded Covid vaccine Pfizer developed and markets together with Germany’s BioNTech, the portfolio includes the pharma major’s oral antiviral Paxlovid (nirmatrelvir).

In June this year, Pfizer and the governor of Michigan announced a $120 million investment at the campus, designed in part to enable an increase in capacity for Paxlovid, as well as for ritonavir tablets. At the time, the drugmaker said it planned to create 250 new jobs.

Author: Dede Williams, Freelance Journalist