$1.2B In New Biotech Manufacturing Expansions Announced
Two life sciences manufacturing hubs are coming to fruition in the U.S., adding to the wave of projects sparked by President Donald Trump's domestic manufacturing push.
Biotech company Greentech is building a $700M plant just outside of Raleigh in Holly Springs, North Carolina, and Roche is spending $550M to expand a diagnostics site in Indianapolis.
Greentech’s facility will serve as a biopharmaceutical talent hub, CEO Ashley Magargee said in a press release. A state grant centered on job development will help get the project off the ground. The firm estimates the project will grow the state’s economy by $3B over 12 years and add 400 jobs.
Greentech noted the investment could be expanded based on the company’s business decisions and U.S. policy.
Roche, which bills itself as the world’s largest biotech firm, plans to drop $550M by 2030 to expand its Indianapolis Diagnostics site. The site will be used to make continuous glucose monitoring equipment.
Indianapolis already is the North American HQ for Roche Diagnostics. The new investment builds on the $800M Switzerland-based Roche has invested in the U.S. for the last decade.
Legislation is playing a key role in the shift of life sciences manufacturing to the U.S., as planned tariffs on foreign pharmaceutical production are encouraging drugmakers to move their operations stateside.
The president last week urged manufacturers to move their production ahead of tariffs and directed the Food and Drug Administration via executive order to hasten statewide project approval and support drugmakers before their facilities come online. These regulation rollbacks are helping the case for domestic production and driving real estate expansions.
There have been at least $170B in domestic manufacturing facility commitments so far this year from big pharma companies like Merck & Co., which is working on a $1B Delaware facility.
Eli Lilly has plans for a $27B investment in four U.S. pharmaceutical manufacturing facilities. The February announcement came a week after Lilly executives met with Trump to discuss tariffs on drug imports.
Drugmakers coming stateside is good news for economic hubs in the country’s less urban areas. These manufacturers are filling the gap left by the $8.1B in clean energy projects that have been canceled since the start of the year, leaving plenty of room for big pharma to move in and build on sites already prepared for development.
