Pfizer to Invest $750M at Kalamazoo Facility for Medicines and Vaccines

Pfizer Inc. plans to invest $750 million at its Kalamazoo facility to establish what it describes as one of the most technologically advanced production campuses in the world that will continue to ensure the uninterrupted supply of Pfizer medicines and vaccines.
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Pfizer is investing $750 million in a Kalamazoo production campus to ensure the uninterrupted supply of Pfizer medicines and vaccines. // Stock Photo
Pfizer is investing $750 million in a Kalamazoo production campus to ensure the uninterrupted supply of Pfizer medicines and vaccines. // Stock Photo

Pfizer Inc. plans to invest $750 million at its Kalamazoo facility to establish what it describes as one of the most technologically advanced production campuses in the world that will continue to ensure the uninterrupted supply of Pfizer medicines and vaccines.

This investment builds on the company’s initial investment of $465 million in the Kalamazoo facility, and a $120 million expansion announced earlier this year.

One of Pfizer’s largest plants, the Kalamazoo facility is a global supplier of sterile injectable, liquid, and semi-solid medicines, as well as active pharmaceutical ingredients, producing more than 144 products.

Currently, the multi-story, 400,000-square-foot production facility employs 3,000 workers and contractors. Pfizer states its operations in Kalamazoo County generate an estimated annual economic impact in west Michigan of $3 billion. The plant has been in operation since 1948 and has had a presence in the community through Upjohn Co. since 1886.

“Since 2017, Pfizer has invested $5 billion to support the ongoing growth of our manufacturing leadership in the U.S.” says Albert Bourla, chairman and CEO of Pfizer. “This expansion is part of our blueprint to grow our U.S. manufacturing base, create more manufacturing jobs, and help ensure patients everywhere can get the medicines they need.”

In June 2022, the global pharmaceutical industry leader announced it was adding 250 jobs to its Portage manufacturing facility as part of a $120 million investment to produce Paxlovid, the company’s antiviral COVID-19 pill. According to the company, the facility will be the only U.S. manufacturer of the ingredients and materials used to produce Paxlovid.

“Pfizer’s continued investment in Michigan highlights the state’s leadership in life sciences and medical device manufacturing and our commitment to growing high-wage tech jobs to strengthen economic opportunity for Michiganders,” says Quentin Messer Jr., CEO of the MEDC and president and chair of the Michigan Strategic Fund.

“We’re thrilled to be celebrating Pfizer’s latest commitment in Michigan — which marks its second in 2022 — as they create good-paying jobs for our friends and neighbors here in Portage, in nearby Kalamazoo, and all throughout the Southwest Michigan region.”

The investment builds on the first U.S. doses of the Pfizer vaccine being manufactured at the Portage facility. Since December 2020, the facility has produced nearly 1 billion doses.

In March 2021, Pfizer broke ground on advanced sterile injectable pharmaceutical production facilities — known as Modular Aseptic Processing (MAP) — in Portage. The facility is expected to add approximately 450 new jobs in Kalamazoo County, part of a $465 million investment by the company. The project was supported by a $1-million Michigan Business Development Program-based grant approved by the Michigan Strategic Fund.

Home to 275 medical device and life sciences firms, from Pfizer and Stryker to startups like Tetra Therapeutics, Michigan is among the top 10 in the nation for medical device manufacturing companies.

The state is increasingly competitive throughout the nation for developing, testing, and deploying new medical device technologies, particularly in the southwest region of Michigan, which has five times more workers than the U.S. average in the medical device sector.

Today’s news builds on a series of other life sciences and medical device investments Michigan has secured recently, including:

  • Digilab is investing $1.44 million and creating up to 100 life science and medical device jobs in Monroe, where it is establishing a full-service dental lab.
  • Neogen Corp. is investing $71.5 million and creating 77 new jobs as well as retaining 350 jobs in Lansing, where it is constructing a state-of-the-art manufacturing and R&D facility.
  • Global Life Sciences is investing $430 million and creating an estimated 200 jobs in Muskegon Charter Township, where it plans to establish its first Michigan operations that will include machinery and equipment as well as lab and clean-room space.
  • West Contract Manufacturing is investing $6 million and creating 110 jobs in the city of Walker, where it will expand its production of injectable medicines.
  • Dow Inc. is investing $150 million and retaining 800 jobs in Midland, where it is investing in its operations in order to best position itself for future growth.

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