SPOKANE, Wash. — On Tuesday, Jubilant Hollisterstier opened their 50,000-square-foot plant expansion in Hillyard, creating 200 new jobs in Spokane.
The slice of the red ribbon marked a new challenger of global pandemics.
"The impetus of this project was actually to have a quick supply chain of pandemic-ready products much quicker than what was in the past," Chris Pret, CEO & President of Jubilant Hollisterstier, said.
Jubilant Hollisterstier manufactures bio-medical products. One of those products includes one of the first medicines that fought COVID-19 in those infected with the virus.
"If you're a Spokanite, one of those proud points is basically one of the first COVID therapeutics, specifically Remdesivir, was actually manufactured right here in Spokane," Preti said.
Remdesivir is a medicine that stops the COVID-19 virus from spreading and causing severe symptoms, ultimately saving lives. However, when the pandemic had struck, it took over a year to produce, but now with the plant expansion, Preti says it will only take a few months for those life-saving medicines to become available.
Preti says the state-of-the-art facility will double its yearly output of 30 million vials a year to now at least 60 million vials of medicine.
"Each vial [has] around five patients that will be serviced, so you're looking at almost 300 million patients that will be serviced because of this expansion," Preti said.
In perspective, that's life-saving medicine for almost every person in the United States from this one Spokane plant, which will immensely aid in future pandemics.
Jubilant Hollisterstier says products from the new expansion will start being produced by the end of 2024 once all tests are passed and employees are trained.
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