Pharmaceutical manufacturing and packaging company Jubilant HollisterStier LLC plans to double its injectable filling production capacity by 2025 with a $193 million expansion project at its East Spokane plant. 

The project is separate from and in addition to the $92 million filling-line expansion announced last November. That expansion is expected to be completed by year-end 2024 at the plant, located at 3525 N. Regal, in the Bemiss neighborhood.

Amit Arora, president of Jubilant HollisterStier, says the newly announced expansion will feature a flexible manufacturing platform able to produce several types of vaccines.

“This investment will ensure our ability and flexibility to speedily produce quality vaccines and treatments for our customers and be better prepared for any future threats to the country,” Arora says.

Jack Wright, vice president of sales and marketing for the Spokane manufacturer, says the company will add a total of 450 jobs to the Spokane facility over the next two to three years to support the two expansions. The company currently employs approximately 723 people and ranks as the third-largest manufacturer in the region, according to the Leading Spokane-Area Manufacturers list published in the May 19 issue of the Journal. 

“When we planned for the first expansion, we designed it with the future in mind of further expansion to shorten the time to build,” says Wright.

According to a press release issued by the company, Jubilant will receive $149.6 million in American Rescue Plan funds for the project through an agreement with the U.S. Army, other Department of Defense agencies, and the Department of Health and Human Services.

Pramod Yadav, CEO of Jubilant Pharma Ltd.the global pharmaceutical conglomerate and parent company of Jubilant HollisterStier, notes in the release that the Spokane operation has a strong history of supporting the U.S. government in biodefense and medical countermeasure programs, including production for national preparedness efforts.

As reported previously by the Journal, the current $92 million expansion is set to add 50,000 square feet of new space and 250 employees. The expansion will boost filling capacity by 50% and will house a new high-speed, 400-vial-per-minute, injectable fill line with isolator technology providing high levels of sterility. In addition, it will also add two 300-square-foot lyophilizers, or freeze dryers.

Hollister-Stier Laboratories LLC, now Jubilant HollisterStier LLC, was formed in 1999 when a group of managers bought the plant from Bayer Corp. Shortly after buying the plant, which primarily had been used to make allergy products, the new company started gearing up its contract-manufacturing work. 

Under various owners, including founders Guy Hollister and Dr. Robert A. Stier, the plant has operated in Spokane since 1921.