Jubilant HollisterStier to double filling capacity in US Gov pact

Jubilant has entered into for a $149 million agreement with the US Government to double its injectable filling capacity at its Washington state plant.

Through its subsidiary Jubilant HollisterStier, Indian firm Jubilant Pharmova will support the US in expanding its vaccine manufacturing capacity. The agreement is in cooperation with the Army and Contracting Command, the Joint Program Executive Office for Chemical, Biological, Radiological, and Nuclear Defense (JPEO-CBRND) on behalf of the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority (BARDA).

The $149 million agreement has been funded under the American Rescue Plan and the partnership will enable contract development manufacturing organization (CDMO) Jubilant to double its injectable filling production capacity ata total cost of $193 million at its Spokane, Washington facility by 2025.

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“Jubilant HollisterStier is committed to making the US pharmaceutical supply chain more resilient with domestic manufacturing facilities and less reliant on foreign suppliers,” Pramod Yadav Jubilant Pharma CEO said.

“HollisterStier has a long history of supporting the US Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) and Department of Defense (DOD) biodefense and medical countermeasure programs, including production for national preparedness efforts. We are proud to support the US government in their efforts of making the US more prepared and ready for future pandemics.”

According to the CEO, the expansion will focus on targeting large biotech and pharma companies for parenteral products, as well as flexible production platforms to produce different types of vaccines, including mRNA, live, and inactivated/subunit.

This agreement comes in addition to the $92 million filling line expansion announced in November last year, which will be commercially operational by the end of 2024. Additionally, the CDMO’s site in Spokane is supplying Indian COVID-19 vaccine Covaxin after the firm struck a deal in June 2021 with Ocugen and Bharat Biotech.