Pfizer pledges $120M to produce oral COVID-19 treatment Paxlovid at Michigan factory

Pfizer is sinking $120 million into a Michigan factory to drastically increase its production and supply of its oral COVID-19 treatment, the pharmaceutical company announced Monday.

The investment, which will create more than 250 high-skilled jobs at the Kalamazoo plant, will be used to ramp up production of the active ingredient in Paxlovid.

“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,” Pfizer CEO Albert Bourla said in a statement.

“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.”

Pfizer will spend $120 million at its Kalamazoo plant to increase production of the active ingredient in Paxlovid.

The Kalamazoo factory will be able to produce 1,200 metric tons of the active pharmaceutical ingredient in Paxlovid annually, Pfizer said. A spokesperson told the Daily News that this capacity will increase supply of the drug by 4 million packs.

“Pfizer’s $120 million expansion in Kalamazoo creating 250 good-paying jobs to support the manufacture of Paxlovid will build on Michigan’s economic momentum,” Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer said in a statement.

The oral treatment, approved for emergency use for those 12 and older with mild to moderate COVID-19, has shown to reduce hospitalization and death by almost 90% if taken within five days of the onset of symptoms, according to Pfizer.