AtkinsRéalis to design vaccine expansion for Jubilant HollisterStier

Engineering services and nuclear company AtkinsRéalis Group will design the expansion of contract development and manufacturing organization (CDMO) Jubilant HollisterStier’s 40,000 square-foot sterile injectable facility in Montreal, Canada.

"Being chosen to support a project that will strengthen Canadian biomedical self-sufficiency to better position the country for future global health events is a privilege," said Stéphanie Vaillancourt, president, Canada, AtkinsRéalis.

AtkinsRéalis stated the expansion will create contract development and manufacturing activities for other biopharmaceutical companies based in Quebec working across the life sciences supply chain. The firm’s industrial team will provide an integrated end-to-end solution, including design and professional engineering services for the facility and its manufacturing processes.

A spokesperson for AtkinsRéalis’ told BioProcess Insider the design is part of a greater CAD $109 million ($81 million) project by Jubilant HollisterStier. The expansion will bolster the latter company’s vaccine manufacturing capabilities, adding a new fill/finish line that will increase capacity by over 100%. The sterile manufacturing site will produce a variety of batch sizes and vaccine types (live, mRNA, and inactivated/subunit) so that future manufacturing projects can address a wide array of diseases, both existing and novel.

Jubilant Hollistier’s Montreal facility currently accommodates 2-40 mL vial sizes and has a batch capacity up to 350 liters. The new fill/finish line is scheduled to open in 2027.

The expansion will support Canada’s Biomanufacturing and Life Sciences Strategy that the federal government enacted in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. The strategy aims to strengthen the country’s pandemic preparedness by bolstering large-scale biomanufacturing through domestic investment. It is composed of five pillars which relate to strong governance, research and talent development, strengthening capacity, ensuring world-class regulations, and doubling down on areas of strength.

As part of its Strategic Innovation Fund (SIF), the Canadian government helped fund Jubilant HollisterStier’s expansion through a partially repayable loan of about $17.7 million in 2023.

At the time, Pramod Yadav, CEO of Jubilant Pharma Limited said subsidiary company “Jubilant HollisterStier is excited to be chosen as a part of the ecosystem being strengthened by Canada to better position the country for its future needs of vaccines and treatments for potential pandemics. This funding will enable our continued efforts to expand our capabilities in Canada and create more jobs.”