On Nov. 17, 2021, Jubilant HollisterStier broke ground for our $285 million Spokane facility expansion. This expansion is made possible through external grants, including an investment to expand sterile injectable manufacturing capacity and an investment from the American Rescue Plan.

This expansion is centered on a new high-speed commercial fill finish line. At 400 vials per minute, it’s equipped with full isolator technology and 100% weight-checking capabilities at production speeds. Additionally, we’ve added three compounding suites with capacity for up to 2000 L bulks and disposable, single-use compounding and filling technologies. The line is also outfitted with two new 300 sq. ft. lyophilizers.

“This expansion is in partnership with the US government, and we are so excited about this because essentially what it will do is take our existing capacity and double the capacity over the next 6 years. What we’re also doing is bringing on new technologies, specifically with our Spokane facility. We’re bringing on new isolator technology which allows us to work in an aseptic environment without any human interaction at all… This takes our production to even higher quality and improves our yields… so the benefit at the end of the day is that the customer gets high quality product with high yields.” stated Chris Preti, President of Jubilant HollisterStier.

The additional 160k sq. ft. phase of our expansion is currently in progress. This expansion adds a fourth line to our Spokane facility and mirrors the capabilities of Line 3. Along with the new line, we are also adding additional maintenance and validation areas, warehouse space, laboratories, incoming inspection areas, and a large employee services area.

Hollister-Stier Laboratories was founded by chemist Guy Hollister and Robert E. Stier, M.D. in 1921, and began partially as the result of Mrs. Hollister’s “summer cold,” which Hollister and Stier discovered was caused by grasses in the Spokane area. The two friends developed a vaccine to help Mrs. Hollister, and the company became the leader in allergen extracts.