Ritedose CEO turns childhood passion into pharma powerhouse

While still a boy growing up in the Upstate, Ritedose CEO Jody Chastain planted a one-acre garden full of decorative Indian corn and then sold his harvest to area garden clubs for fall decorations. In the process he studied the ins-and-outs of growing the corn, learning all he could about the science behind it.

“I was a serial entrepreneur as a kid, always figuring out a way to make money and grow a business, and I also found myself loving science,” Chastain said.

Fast forward to 2025, and Chastain has translated his business skills and zeal for science into a successful 13-year stint as president and CEO at Columbia-based The Ritedose Corp., the largest pharmaceutical manufacturer in the U.S. specializing in sterile Blow-Fill-Seal-technology. Ritedose’s 600 employees produce a wide range of products for the respiratory and ophthalmic markets, with a production capacity of more than 2 billion doses a year.

Under Chastain’s leadership, the company has weathered a pandemic while also seeing consistent growth and expansion.

This has been a particularly significant year for Ritedose. In April, the company opened its seventh Syntegon packaging line capable of producing an additional 160-170 million vials annually and supporting production of a significant drug for chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD).

In June, Ritedose unveiled a new 225,000-square-foot, $81 million central distribution and logistics center at its Performance Park site in northeast Columbia, and in September construction started on a $17 million expansion to its laboratory facilities, set for completion in spring 2026.

Also in September, the company hosted the American meeting of the Blow-Fill-Seal (BFS) International Operators association, which drew 100 people from across the U.S. and overseas to the new facility for tours, networking and learning sessions.

All of this goes on against the backdrop of the company’s simple motto: “Patient-inspired, purpose-driven.” The patients are so important to Chastain that photo portraits of some of the people who benefit from Ritedose products are on display in a common area at Performance Park.

Chastain didn’t originally start out in the business world to work in the pharmaceuticals industry.

“I never set my sights on being CEO of a company – I just believe in doing the best you can in any position that you have and when you do that, doors will open,” he said.

An opportunity to lead

Born and raised in the small Upstate town of Liberty, Chastain always had an interest in science and math as a kid, as well as that early business instinct. He also enjoyed opportunities to lead, starting with positions in student government, carrying on through his college years and into the business world.

He studied at Clemson University, holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Business Administration from Limestone College, and is a graduate of the Executive Development program at Northwestern University’s Kellogg School of Management.

From 1995 to 2004, he and wife Randi both worked at Fujifilm in Greenwood. When he first went to interview there, Chastain first gained a perspective he has carried with him throughout his career: that decisions you make and things you experience can change the entire trajectory of your life.

He went in for an interview at the Japanese-based company and the hiring manager asked him what made him different from any other candidate.

“I had taken a year of Japanese at Clemson and could speak some Japanese, and he was blown away – I was hired immediately,” Chastain said.

At Fujifilm, he worked in lean manufacturing, packaging design, procurement, planning and operations. He also came up with an innovative use for scrap edges of film that were going into the landfill. Those scraps contained silver nitrate. Chastain found a vendor who could recycle the silver, and ended up yielding 12,000 ounces of silver, resulting in a financial windfall for the company.

He first interviewed with Ritedose in 2004 when the company was still known as Holopack International. He was immediately taken with the blow-fill-seal technology. In simple terms, that’s an automated sterile process that forms, fills and seals single-unit dose containers from plastic resin.

“It was the first time I had ever seen a technology where your imagination is not limited – you can design a device or a vial in any design that you want,” he said. “To me it was a ‘wow’ moment. As soon as I walked in and understood the technology, I could see it had such an amazing future in the United States and the world, and I knew I wanted to be part of it.”

He immediately understood the potential this technology for manufacturing and dispensing medication had across many different sectors of health care, and he liked its quick adaptability for changing needs.

“I saw this was a technology that could meet surge demand – if there was a crisis one machine could have an output of almost 200 million doses a year, a tremendous possibility when it comes to serving a nation of 300 million,” he said. “No one was thinking about a pandemic at the time.”

His first big test as CEO

After joining the company in 2005, he worked in many departments on the way to becoming president and CEO, overseeing facilities, manufacturing operations, supply chain and sales and marketing.

Less than two years after he took over the helm in 2018, he faced one of his first big tests as CEO when the COVID-19 pandemic hit worldwide in early 2020.

“I called my team together and said I don’t know what this is or how big it’s going to be – all we know is it’s a respiratory disease and we make respiratory drugs, and we’re not going to wait to find out,” Chastain said. “I want every line that we have running at maximum capacity as quickly as possible.”

Ritedose ramped up production of its medicines from 80 million doses a month to 100 million in the first year of the pandemic, a process that was grueling but also necessary.

“We did what we needed to do at the time when we needed to do it, because it was the right thing to do,” Chastain said.

For Chastain, work isn’t all about business – it’s also about blessings. He uses the term frequently when talking about his life and the evolution of Ritedose, and it’s a concept he’s woven into daily life at the company.

“I think over my career, I have been extremely blessed, and I think it’s an imperative that we as a company actually bless other people,” he said. “I have also found that the majority of the 600 employees we have have a giving heart and want to give back.”

Connecting with the community

In some workplaces, giving means just making a cash donation to a charity drive, but Chastain has crafted a way to help his employees connect one-on-one with the community through an initiative launched in early 2025 called “1000 Hours of Purpose.” Each employee is granted eight paid hours that they can use to volunteer at a local organization, and so far this year Ritedose workers have logged 500 hours with various partner organizations in the Midlands.

“We pay the employees to go volunteer because we want them to experience the joy of giving while also not feeling it’s causing a burden on them,” he said. Many of the employees have formed relationships with the organization they serve and are continuing to volunteer after their Hours of Purpose are complete.

The volunteer effort has been so successful that Chastain wants to challenge other life-science companies in South Carolina to launch similar programs.

“The amount of benefit we could offer to South Carolina citizens through this work would be amazing,” he said.

He also works to grow the lifesciences sector in South Carolina through his work on the board of directors at SCBio, a statewide non-profit economic development organization dedicated to the industry.

When he’s not working on the latest innovations at Ritedose, Chastain spends time in his Columbia home with his wife of 30 years, Randi; his daughter Ashlyn and her family, who also live in the area, and a new grandson.

He also is on the board at The Heritage Co. in Lexington, which launched in 2023 and holds worship services at White Knoll High School.

Chastain also enjoys his status as a “novice amateur golfer,” playing regularly in a Ritedose golf league that meets after work at The Spur at Northwoods Golf Club.

“Typically I’m out there partnered with a materials handler and a forklift driver one time, and next time it might be with an engineer in the packaging department,” he said. “It’s my chance to interact with the employees. I want them to see that what you see is what you get. I’m always this person whether I’m at a board meeting or on the golf course.”

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