Jubilant HollisterStier LLC, a subsidiary of Jubilant Pharmova Ltd, has announced plans to invest USD 300 million by FY28 to double its sterile injectable manufacturing capacity in the United States. The expansion plans have been accelerated by tariffs introduced under President Donald Trump’s administration, according to Chris Preti, CEO – CDMO Sterile Injectables at the company.
The company has inaugurated a new sterile fill-and-finish line, its third production line at the Spokane manufacturing facility in Washington, established with an investment of USD 132 million, Preti told PTI.
“Our overall investment is almost USD 300 million at our Spokane facility. This is the first of the two phases ... This USD 132 million is phase one, which is our third line,” Preti said.
He added that this first phase would increase current production capacity by 50%, while the second phase, to be completed by FY28, will add another 50%.
“Today, we produce approximately 50 million units of vials annually. In the future, when we're done with both of these expansions, we'll be actually producing approximately 100 million vials annually,” he noted.
Preti explained that the investment is driven by growing demand and supply chain consolidation needs among the company’s US clients. He also acknowledged that Trump-era tariffs have acted as a catalyst for accelerating these expansion plans.
“What I would say is the tariff situation created a fortuitous or amplified the situation, because now there's even more of a desire for US manufacturing, or onshore manufacturing in the US, or from an India perspective, offshoring manufacturing outside of Asia into the US,” he said.
The company’s decision aligns with a broader industry shift toward localised manufacturing amid a global supply-demand imbalance in sterile vial production.
“A few years ago, Jubilant Pharmova strategically decided we want to build up this capacity, because there was a need in the US marketplace... a 700 million shortfall in terms of demand versus supply, as well as a desire for companies to come to the US. So we made this decision strategically two years ago,” Preti explained.
Citing a McKinsey study, he said there is a 700 million-unit gap between global demand and supply for sterile vials.
“So 6.8 billion is demand, 6.1 million supply,” he said, adding that many companies have since shifted capacity toward pre-filled syringes.
Recognising this market gap, Jubilant Pharmova launched the USD 300 million expansion project, supported by a USD 150 million grant from the US government, following its success in scaling up Covid-19 therapeutic manufacturing.
“Each unit is around five patient doses. So this is approximately 350 million patient doses out there... almost the entire US population will receive a dose of a medicine or a vaccine that was manufactured from a Spokane facility,” Preti said. “So huge opportunity for us in terms of meeting the customer's needs for this additional capacity that the customers were desiring.”
Jubilant HollisterStier operates as a Contract Development and Manufacturing Organisation (CDMO), offering sterile fill-finish, lyophilization, and ophthalmic manufacturing services. The company’s advanced facilities are located in Spokane, Washington, and Montreal, Quebec.