AstraZeneca is continuing to build its presence in the US setting out plans to invest $50 billion in medicines manufacturing and R&D in the country by 2030. This money is in addition to the $3.5 billion US investment announced during November last year. The company said that the move will help it deliver on its ambition of reaching $80 billion in total revenue by 2030. Some 50% of this revenue target is expected to be generated in the US.
The investment plans will see the development of a facility in Virginia to produce ‘drug substances’ for AstraZeneca’s weight management and metabolic portfolio, including oral GLP-1, and Baxdrostat, a potential first-in-class, highly selective aldosterone synthase inhibitor (ASI) targeting the hormone driving elevated blood pressure and increased cardiovascular and renal risk. The new facility will also produce small molecules, peptides and oligonucleotides.
Other investments over the next five years include: Expansion of R&D facilities in Maryland; an R&D centre in Cambridge, Massachusetts; manufacturing facilities for cell therapy in Maryland and California; continuous manufacturing expansion in Indiana; specialty manufacturing expansion in Texas; new sites to supply clinical trials; and growing R&D investment in novel medicines.
AstraZeneca CEO, Pascal Soriot, said: “This announcement underpins our belief in America’s innovation in biopharmaceuticals and our commitment to the millions of patients who need our medicines in America and globally.”
Welcoming the investment, Howard Lutnick, US Secretary of Commerce added: “For decades Americans have been reliant on foreign supply of key pharmaceutical products. President Trump and our nation’s new tariffs are focused on ending this structural weakness.”
This announcement by AstraZeneca follows other US investment decisions by major pharmaceutical players in recent months. While many of the decisions are believed to have been in the pipeline for sometime, the issue of US tariffs is likely to have had some part to play in the plans. According to a commentary by Sector Economist TMT & Healthcare, Diederik Stadig, at ING: "The threat of tariffs has caused branded pharma companies to commit to more than $250bn in US investment over the next few years."
During March Johnson & Johnson announced plans for manufacturing, R&D and technology investments of more than $55 billion in the US over the next four years. The investments include breaking ground on a new medicine manufacturing facility in North Carolina, followed by three new advanced manufacturing facilities and the expansion of several existing sites across the company’s Innovative Medicine and MedTech businesses. Meanwhile biopharmaceutical company UCB announced, in June, that it is planning to make a "significant investment" in a new, state-of-the-art biologics manufacturing facility in the US.
Further reading:
• Europe's pharmaceuticals trade surplus hits record high
• SCI research: UK life sciences missing out on billions through competitiveness gap
• Pharma R&D: Who is really setting the pace?
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