Pfizer to spend $120M to make COVID-19 oral treatment in U.S.

Pfizer (NYSE: PFE) announced today that it will invest $120 million into its Kalamazoo, Michigan facility to support U.S.-based production of its COVID-19 antiviral Paxlovid (nirmatrelvir/ritonavir).

The investment is expected to create more than 250 additional, high-skilled jobs at the Kalamazoo site.

The money will expand the production of active pharmaceutical ingredient (API) and registered starting materials (RSMs) used in the manufacture of nirmatrelvir. Pfizer noted in a news release that results from its EPIC-HR (Evaluation of Protease Inhibition for COVID-19 in High-Risk Patients) study showed an 88% reduction in COVID-19-related hospitalization or death among adults treated with Paxlovid compared to placebo within five days of noticing symptoms.

“Pfizer Global Supply has made the impossible possible, making billions of vaccine doses and now millions of treatment courses to help battle the deadly COVID-19 pandemic,” said Prizer CEO Dr. Albert Bourla. “By increasing production at our Michigan facility, we are both helping patients around the world and expanding important manufacturing innovation to the U.S. This investment builds upon our $5 billion of investments across our manufacturing and distribution portfolio since 2017 to support the ongoing growth of U.S. manufacturing leadership.”

Pfizer said its investment in the Kalamazoo location will make it one of the largest producers of API, with the capacity to produce 1,200 metric tons annually.

Pfizer also plans to expand its Modular Aseptic Processing (MAP) sterile injectable pharmaceutical production facility in Kalamazoo with a phase two investment. The expansion adds to the initial $450 million phase-one investment to build a 400,000-square-foot production facility.

“Pfizer’s Kalamazoo facility has been at the forefront of pharmaceutical manufacturing for more than 135 years through the legacy company Upjohn,” said Mike McDermott, chief global supply officer at Pfizer. “The Kalamazoo facility uses some of our most innovative manufacturing technology and has been essential in Pfizer’s fight against COVID-19, producing nearly 1 billion doses of COVID-19 vaccine at the site to date. Through this expansion, we will continue to invest in the next generation of manufacturing and supply chain resilience.”