LANSING, Mich. – Monday, Governor Whitmer joined Pfizer Inc. in announcing that it will further strengthen its commitment to Michigan manufacturing with a $120 million investment at its Kalamazoo, Michigan, facility, enabling U.S.-based production in support of its COVID-19 oral treatment, PAXLOVID, which will create more than 250 additional high-skill jobs at Pfizer’s Kalamazoo site. This investment builds on Governor Whitmer’s commitment to growing Michigan's economy and creating good-paying jobs for Michiganders across the state.
“Pfizer’s $120 million expansion in Kalamazoo creating 250 good-paying jobs making PAXLOVID will save lives and build on Michigan’s economic momentum,” said Governor Gretchen Whitmer. “Pfizer’s Kalamazoo facility also made some of the first doses of the vaccine, and now this proud Michigan company will play a critical role in both the treatment and prevention of COVID. By creating opportunity for Michiganders, Pfizer is helping us grow our economy, create good-paying jobs, and keep families safe.”
This investment is another step in Pfizer’s effort to bring more key biopharmaceutical manufacturing to the U.S., increasing Pfizer’s capability to produce and supply treatments and medicines for patients in the U.S. and around the world.
“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 Albert Bourla, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Pfizer. “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.”
To date, Pfizer has manufactured over 5.5 million packs of PAXLOVID globally across 26 countries, including 1.3 million courses shipped to the U.S. The significant investment will allow Pfizer to increase supply capacity for PAXLOVID as needed to help meet global demand. With this new investment, Kalamazoo will be among the world's largest producers of active pharmaceutical ingredient (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 investment of $450 million in phase one to build a 400,000-square-foot production facility and further establishes Kalamazoo as one of the most technically advanced sterile injectable pharmaceutical production facilities in the world.
“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, Pfizer. “The Kalamazoo facility uses some of our most innovative manufacturing technology and has been essential in Pfizer’s fight against COVID-19, producing more than one 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.”
Governor’s Whitmer Economic Development
In December, Governor Whitmer brought together both parties and public and private sector partners and signed historic economic development legislation that empowered Michigan to compete for every project and every job. In January, a few weeks after setting up the fund, Michigan fought for and won a $7 billion investment from GM—the largest in their history—creating and retaining 5,000 jobs. In March, LG Energy Solution invested $1.7 billion to create 1,200 jobs and last week, Ford announced a $2 billion investment creating 2,200 jobs. There are more projects in the pipeline and Governor Whitmer will work with anyone to bring more jobs and investment to Michigan.
Michigan’s Growing Economy
Governor Whitmer is laser-focused on growing Michigan’s economy, creating good-paying jobs, and lowering costs. Since she took office, Michigan has added nearly 25,000 auto jobs, including the first Detroit plant in 30 years. She worked across the aisle to establish and funded two game-changing workforce development programs—Michigan Reconnect and Futures for Frontliners—putting tens of thousands of Michiganders on tuition-free paths to a higher education or jobs training. Today, Michigan is growing, bolstered by billions in federal stimulus and additional revenue, effective fiscal management that has led to a budget surplus, and a pandemic-low unemployment of 4.3%. In the weeks ahead, Governor Whitmer will work with the legislature to deliver a fourth balanced, bipartisan budget that invests in the kitchen-table priorities that matter most to Michigan families.
Read more about Governor Whitmer’s economic accomplishments by clicking on the following link Governor Whitmer's Economic Accomplishments.
To learn more about Pfizer’s manufacturing and global supply, visit https://www.pfizer.com/products/how-drugs-are-made/global-supply.
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