Apiject Tackles Drug Shortages with New North Carolina Manufacturing Plant

APEX, NC – January 16, 2026 – In a significant move to bolster America’s fragile pharmaceutical supply chain, Apiject Holdings, Inc. has announced the opening of a new 30,000-square-foot manufacturing facility in Apex, North Carolina. The plant is poised to directly confront the nation's persistent drug shortages by producing essential generic injectable medicines using an advanced manufacturing technology known as Blow-Fill-Seal (BFS).

The new facility, which will also serve as the headquarters for Apiject's operational subsidiary, Vanguard Utility, represents a concrete step in the broader national effort to reshore critical manufacturing and reduce a strategic dependence on foreign drug suppliers. By focusing on medicines currently on the FDA's official drug shortage list, Apiject aims to provide a domestic solution to a problem that has plagued the U.S. healthcare system for over a decade.

"America's dependence on foreign sources for essential medicines is a strategic vulnerability," said Jay Walker, Chairman of Apiject, in a statement. "Reshoring critical manufacturing – from energy and rare earth minerals to pharmaceuticals – is a national priority. This facility represents the next step in Apiject's ongoing work to translate advanced American manufacturing technology into real domestic capacity."

Confronting a Decade-Long Crisis

The United States is grappling with a severe and prolonged drug shortage crisis that poses a direct threat to patient care. More than 200 drugs are frequently in short supply, with sterile injectable medicines—the very products the Apex facility will produce—comprising up to 70% of all shortages. The problem is most acute for generic drugs, which account for approximately 90 percent of U.S. prescriptions but are overwhelmingly manufactured overseas, with an estimated 70 to 80 percent produced in China and India.

This heavy reliance on foreign supply chains leaves the U.S. healthcare system exposed to disruptions from geopolitical tensions, natural disasters, and global health emergencies. Research indicates the average duration of a drug shortage has climbed to over four years, forcing hospitals to scramble for alternatives, which can lead to medication errors, increased costs, and adverse patient outcomes. Some essential injectable drugs, such as those used in anesthesia and emergency care, have been in shortage for more than ten years.

The new Apiject facility is designed to address this vulnerability head-on. It will operate as an FDA-registered 503B outsourcing facility, a designation that allows it to produce large batches of sterile drugs to meet hospital and clinical needs, specifically targeting those generic injectables that are most needed and least available.

A Manufacturing Revolution in a Plastic Bottle

At the core of Apiject's strategy is its innovative use of Blow-Fill-Seal (BFS) technology. Historically confined to products like eyedrops and inhalation therapies, Apiject, with support from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services' Administration for Strategic Preparedness and Response (ASPR), has pioneered advancements that adapt BFS for a wide range of injectable medicines.

Unlike traditional manufacturing that relies on glass vials, the BFS process is a continuous, automated system that forms a drug container from a medical-grade polymer, fills it with the liquid medicine, and seals it in a matter of seconds. This entire operation occurs within a sterile, enclosed environment, drastically reducing the risk of contamination associated with human intervention.

The key advantage lies in its simplified and secured supply chain. The process uses a single, domestically available raw material—plastic resin—thereby eliminating the dependence on fragile and complex global supply chains for glass vials, stoppers, and caps. This insulates production from the kind of international disruptions that have exacerbated drug shortages in the past.

"BFS fundamentally changes the economics of generic injectable drug manufacturing," said Darren Alkins, CEO of Vanguard Utility. "With Apiject's advancements, BFS can now be used for a broad range of liquid injectable medicines, produced quickly, at scale, and at globally competitive costs – right here in the United States for both domestic and international markets."

The technology also offers greater efficiency and cost-effectiveness, making it economically viable to produce low-profit generic drugs that larger manufacturers may be hesitant to invest in, yet which are critical for patient care.

Fueling North Carolina's Life Sciences Corridor

The selection of Apex, North Carolina, places Apiject at the heart of one of the nation's most vibrant and rapidly expanding life sciences hubs. The state's Research Triangle region has become a magnet for pharmaceutical investment, attracting nearly $9 billion and commitments for almost 7,000 new jobs from major industry players like Novartis, Eli Lilly, and Johnson & Johnson since 2018.

Apiject's facility joins this burgeoning ecosystem, leveraging the area's rich talent pool, which is fed by world-class research universities and robust community college workforce development programs. While the company has not released specific job figures for the Apex site, the roles are expected to include the high-skill, high-wage positions characteristic of the region's advanced manufacturing sector.

The investment aligns with a concerted push from the White House and Congress to incentivize domestic production of essential goods. By combining private-sector innovation with supportive public policy, the new plant embodies the national strategy to rebuild industrial capacity and ensure the country is better prepared for future public health challenges.

"Restoring U.S. manufacturing capacity for essential medicines requires both policy leadership and sustained technological innovation," Walker added. "We appreciate the Administration's commitment to rebuilding American industrial capabilities and to supporting platforms that make domestic production viable and resilient."