Known as Modular Aseptic Processing (MAP), the new, multi-story, 400,000-square-foot production facility will also support the area economy by creating an estimated 450 new jobs over the next several years. This expands Pfizer’s presence in Portage, located in Kalamazoo County, where the company now employs more than 2,200 people at one of its largest plants.
“This investment is part of our overall plan announced in January to invest approximately $5 billion in U.S.-based capital projects as a result of the enactment of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act. During the next six years, we expect to invest approximately $1.1 billion in Kalamazoo County – which is in addition to the $1 billion we have invested in the site over the past decade,” said Ian Read, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer. “Every day, we strive to enhance our ability to bring medicines to the patients who need them, and the new facility we are building in Michigan will help us continue to deliver therapies that significantly improve people's lives.”
“This investment will strengthen Pfizer’s leadership in sterile manufacturing technology and help meet growing patient demand,” said Kirsten Lund-Jurgensen, Ph.D., Executive Vice President and President, Pfizer Global Supply. “It also will create hundreds of highly skilled jobs, fortifying Michigan’s high-tech manufacturing environment.”
Ron Perry, Site Leader for the Portage plant, said the new sterile injectable facility will strengthen the site’s role in Pfizer’s global network. “Sterile drug product manufacturing is incredibly complex. This contemporary facility will combine cutting-edge technology and a highly talented workforce to assure we remain a trusted and reliable supplier of these therapies to patients.”
MAP will incorporate the most technically advanced aseptic manufacturing equipment, systems and design, including multiple, self-contained modular manufacturing lines. This allows the manufacturing line in each module to be entirely separate from all other manufacturing lines. Groundbreaking is planned for spring 2019, with construction expected to be completed in 2021. After the facility is validated by regulatory agencies, production should begin in 2024.
To glimpse the technology and talent involved, follow these links for video interviews with Pfizer Global Supply colleagues based in Portage: Blanca Ortiz-Skelding, senior process engineer; Amber Witt, customer project manager; and Travis Crose, machine repairman.
Pfizer’s Portage site is a primary global supplier of sterile injectable, liquids and semi-solid medicines, and active pharmaceutical ingredients, producing more than 150 products. Its biggest product is Solu-Medrol, a widely used injectable anti-inflammatory medicine. The plant has been in operation since 1948, and Pfizer has had a presence in the community through the legacy Upjohn Company since 1886. Pfizer’s operations in Kalamazoo County generate an estimated annual economic impact in west Michigan of $2.2 billion.
“Pfizer’s investment is a major boost to the state’s pharmaceutical industry and further diversifies Michigan’s business environment,” Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder said. “I appreciate Pfizer’s long-term commitment and the economic benefits this will bring to the region and the people who live there.”
About Pfizer Manufacturing
Pfizer is a 168-year-old American company founded in Brooklyn, NY. Pfizer is a proud U.S. based manufacturing and supply company with more than 11,000 U.S. based employees. With 15 plants, the United States hosts more Pfizer manufacturing sites than any other country in the world.
PFIZER DISCLOSURE NOTICE: The information contained in this release is as of July 24, 2018. Pfizer assumes no obligation to update forward-looking statements contained in this release as the result of new information or future events or developments.
This release contains forward-looking information about Pfizer’s plan to build a new sterile injectable facility in Portage, Michigan, including its potential benefits and the anticipated timing of completion and production, that involves substantial risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those expressed or implied by such statements. Risks and uncertainties include, among other things, risks related to the ability to realize the anticipated benefits of the new facility and the ability to complete construction and begin production in the anticipated timeframe or at all; other business effects, including the effects of industry, market, economic, political or regulatory conditions; and competitive developments.
A further description of risks and uncertainties can be found in Pfizer’s Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2017 and in its subsequent reports on Form 10-Q, including in the sections thereof captioned “Risk Factors” and “Forward-Looking Information and Factors That May Affect Future Results”, as well as in its subsequent reports on Form 8-K, all of which are filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission and available at www.sec.gov and www.pfizer.com.
Contacts
Media:
Pfizer
Steven Danehy, 212-733-1538
Steven.danehy@pfizer.com
