When Neopharma shuttered a 43-year-old Bristol, Tenn. plant last year, the closure left the U.S. dependent on China for critical antibiotics.
Now, the plant has been bought by Jackson Healthcare, which announced in a release this week that it is reopening the facility and bringing antibiotic manufacturing back to the U.S.
Called USAntibiotics, the 360,000-square foot facility will focus on producing penicillin-based Amoxicillin, which accounts for 30% of all antibiotics prescribed in the U.S., and Amoxil Clavulanate. Once fully online, the facility will have the capacity to crank out 300 million capsules and two billion tablets each year — eventually stockpiling the U.S. with enough amoxicillin to last five years.
"As the first doses of USAntibiotics' life-saving drugs move down the assembly line, America will have declared its independence from Chinese antibiotics," said Rick Jackson, founder, CEO, and chairman of Jackson Healthcare, which purchased the Bristol facility from bankruptcy earlier this year, said in a statement.
The move is in line with a wider awakening within the pharma industry and the U.S. government about the need to potentially reshore production for some essential medicines. President Biden has also directed his administration to conduct a review of American supply chains for many critical medical products, including drugs.
