Grand River Aseptic Manufacturing to build $60M sterile drug facility, add 107 jobs

As demand for sterile drugs grows, CMO Grand River Aseptic Manufacturing is adding a $60 million manufacturing facility along with more than 100 jobs. It also has netted a nice state grant to help with the project.

The Michigan Economic Development Corporation will kick in $1 million for the expansion in Grand Rapids, Michigan, where Grand River, which goes by GRAM, is headquartered, according to an announcement.

The new facility, which be near its existing 40,000-square-foot facility, will add about 62,400 square feet of space. It will include a new cleanroom with isolator technology and will provide high-speed, fully integrated manufacturing and packaging lines.

RELATED: Grand River buys more land to expand its manufacturing footprint in Michigan

The project is slated to be complete by 2020. The company has said the expansion will allow it to boost its employment by nearly two-thirds, resulting in the addition of 107 new jobs to the 160 it already has.  

“The substantial growth rate that we’ve experienced in the last several years has allowed us to match the needs of our clients and the industry,” CEO Tom Ross, said last spring when the company bought the land for the project.

RELATED: Pfizer hiring 350 at Kansas sterile injectables plant

Demand, and drug shortages, have led other drugmakers to expand sterile manufacturing as well. Pfizer is currently adding about 350 workers to a sterile injectables plant in McPherson, Kansas.

Germany's Fresenius last spring struck a $4.3 billion deal to buy U.S.-based Akorn, an acquisition that would diversify its portfolio and expand its Fresenius Kabi sterile manufacturing capacity. It was slated to add three U.S. manufacturing sites, plus another in India, and about 2,000 employees. But Fresenius walked away from the deal when it discovered data integrity issues at Akorn.