Plans to build a vaccine manufacturing facility in southwest Montana are moving forward.
New Jersey-based Tonix Pharmaceuticals expects to employ around 120 people at the new facility in Ravalli County.
This is the company’s first investment in Montana. CEO Seth Lederman says the company chose Hamilton because of the biotech activity happening there.
“We were attracted to Montana because Hamilton is home of the Rocky Mountain National Laboratory, which is a 90-year-old world renowned infectious disease and vaccine research institute,” he said.
GlaxoSmithKlinealso operates one of its vaccine manufacturing facilities in Hamilton.
Tonix Pharmaceuticals plans to manufacture live vaccines out of the new facility. Lederman says that could include a COVID-19 vaccine and one for smallpox and monkeypox the company is currently developing. He anticipates the new facility to be operational in 2025.