Metro company becomes only US manufacturer of lifesaving drug

ALPHARETTA, Ga. — An Alpharetta company is the only business in the U.S. manufacturing a lifesaving drug.

The antibiotic amoxicillin was all imported from overseas until the local company bought a plant in Tennessee.

Channel 2′s Dave Huddleston learned that most pharmaceuticals you buy at the drug store comes from overseas. With the recent supply chain issues, getting some drugs has become almost impossible.

That’s what prompted the local company to buy the lab. Production started just last week.

The first batches of the antibiotic amoxicillin started tumbling down American conveyor belts Nov. 30.

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Shane Jackson is president of Jackson Healthcare and said this is a big deal because until this plant started operation, all amoxicillin in the U.S. was manufactured overseas.

“The vast majority of ingredients used in medication used from around the world comes from India and China. What we make here is a nearly a third of all antibiotics consumed in the U.S. and we’re the only ones in the United States that can do it,” Jackson told Huddleston. “This is a huge challenge for us. It’s one thing if you can’t find that Christmas gift for your child. It’s another thing if your child is sick and you can’t get them the antibiotic they need to heal.”

Channel 2 Action News first told you in November how Jackson and his Alpharetta company, Jackson Healthcare, bought the Tennessee plant in the spring.

So far, the company is already producing 1 million pills a day.

“In the next year we’ll be able to produce 2.2 billion tablets a year, and more than 300 million capsules a year,” Jackson said.

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