Jubilant HollisterStier LLC’s third sterile fill-finish line at its Spokane facility is now beginning commercial production, the pharmaceutical contract manufacturer announced last week.

The launch was marked by the successful production of the new line’s inaugural batch of sterile fill-finish products, initiating revenue generation for the third line. The new line brings an additional 50% of manufacturing capacity to the Spokane facility, a press release states.

Construction of the third line was completed last year, as part of a 50,000-square-foot expansion project.

A second phase — a 160,000-square-foot expansion that includes a fourth line at the manufacturing plant — is already underway and expected to be completed near mid-2026, says Jubilant HollisterStier marketing manager Sarah Dolan in an email to the Journal.

Once operational, the fourth line will mirror the capabilities of the third line, including advanced isolator technology and high-speed sterile fill-finish capacity.

Together, the third and fourth lines will double Jubilant HollisterStier’s total sterile injectable manufacturing capacity at its Spokane facility, located at 3525 N. Regal.

The total cost of the expansion, including both the third and fourth lines, is about $285 million.

The two new lines will create about 400 new jobs in Spokane by the end of 2026.

“With (the) third line now operational and (the) fourth line on the horizon, we are not just doubling our capacity, we’re building a future that will create hundreds of new jobs, strengthen the U.S. pharmaceutical supply chain, and reaffirm our role as a trusted partner in delivering life-saving therapies to patients around the world,” says Chris Preti, CEO of Jubilant HollisterStier, in a press release.

Preti previously told the Journal that the expansion projects will help the company advance vaccine preparedness on a national scale for future pandemics.

Although the project started in 2021, recent economic developments have added to the timeliness of the expansion.

“In the wake of new tariffs imposed by the U.S. government, large innovator pharma companies are looking for high quality, U.S. manufacturing facilities,” Preti says in the release. “Therefore, we are witnessing a very strong traction in requests for proposals for the new line. We expect to reach the full utilization for the new line in the next three years.”

As previously reported in the Journal, Lydig Construction Inc., of Spokane Valley, is the contractor for the entire expansion project, and Blue Bell, Pennsylvania-based IPS-Integrated Project Services LLC is providing design and engineering services.

Jubilant HollisterStier received $149.6 million in American Rescue Plan funds for the expansion through an agreement with the U.S. Army, other Department of Defense agencies, and the Department of Health and Human Services.

Jubilant HollisterStier is a subsidiary of Jubilant Pharma Holding Inc., which is a wholly-owned subsidiary of India-based Jubilant Pharmova Limited.

As of April 1, the company had just over 1,000 employees in the Spokane area, making it the largest manufacturer in the area, according to the Journal’s most recent Leading Spokane-Area Manufacturers list.