The US needs more pharmaceutical manufacturing capacity on its own soil according to Selkirk Pharma, which has begun constructing a facility in Spokane, Washington.  

The planned 145,000 square-foot Washington-based manufacturing plant has been designed for contract manufacturing of injectables drugs, therapeutics, and vaccines. 

According to Selkirk CEO Patrick Haffey, the intent is “to build much-needed pharmaceutical manufacturing capacity on US soil.” 

Image: iStock/dk_photos

While the firm was founded prior to the pandemic, the realization of the fragility of supply chains in light of the coronavirus pandemic has brought in-country production to the forefront with firms like Avid Bioscience claiming it has made localized manufacturing more appealing.  

The facility will include electronic batch records and isolator-based filling systems and Selkirk plans to inject an additional $60 million into the plant over the next three to five years as further production lines and capabilities are installed.   

Selkirk has 25 employees and plans to increase this to 45 by mid-2022. However, at full capacity the facility looks to employ 300 engineers, scientists, and operations personnel.  

The firm also plans to construct a second manufacturing facility on an adjacent eight-acre piece of land – plans are set to be released at a later date.  

Selkirk was contacted for comment but did not respond.

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