With tariffs looming over biopharma, Roche became the latest industry giant to announce large-scale plans for new U.S. drug and diagnostic manufacturing operations, committing $50 billion over the next five years to the purpose.
Roche projected that its $50 billion manufacturing investment, to include research and development (R&D) operations, will generate 1,000 jobs at the company’s new and expanded facilities, plus another 11,000+ jobs (including almost 6,500 construction jobs) at companies that will partner with the pharma giant to support its expansion plans.
Roche now maintains 13 manufacturing and 15 R&D facilities within 24 U.S. sites that employ more than 25,000 people in eight U.S. states. The company said its manufacturing expansion will add to its U.S. workforce with:
• A new gene therapy manufacturing facility in Pennsylvania
• A new 900,000-square-foot manufacturing center at a location to be determined, designed to produce Roche’s expanding portfolio of next-generation weight loss medicines. Roche signaled it will grow that portfolio by launching an up to $5.3 billion collaboration with Zealand Pharma to co-develop Zealand’s petrelintide for overweight and obesity indications.
• A new manufacturing facility in Indiana designed to make continuous glucose monitoring devices
• A new R&D center in Massachusetts designed to conduct artificial intelligence (AI) research and serve as a hub for the company’s new cardiovascular, renal, and metabolism R&D efforts
“Today’s announced investments underscore our long-standing commitment to research, development, and manufacturing in the United States,” Thomas Schinecker, Roche Group CEO, said in a statement. The statement noted that Roche is a Swiss company (its headquarters are in Basel) that operates in more than 130 countries worldwide.
Roche added that once the new and expanded U.S. facilities are completed and come online, Roche will export more drugs from the U.S. overseas than it will import Stateside. The company said its diagnostics division already has an export surplus from the U.S. to other countries.
Investors on both sides of the Atlantic appeared unfazed by Roche’s news. The company’s shares on the SIX Swiss Exchange stayed all but flat, dipping 0.3% from CHF 255.60 ($313.12) to CHF 254.80 ($312.14) at the close of trading. In the U.S., however, Roche’s American Depositary Receipts (ADRs) traded on the Over-the-Counter OTCQX market inched up 0.4% from $38.85 to an even $39.
Roche is among biopharmas that have committed a combined $160 billion in new U.S. manufacturing initiatives, Jefferies analyst Tycho Peterson calculated in a research note, adding: “It is hard to see this not translating into some incremental impact over the coming years. A lot still remains difficult to triangulate, but we expect projects tied to revamping existing facilities to happen quicker” than build-outs of new or “greenfield” facilities.
“For Roche, we see potential $20B incremental spending” on capital expenditures, of which $8 billion would be directed to biologics manufacturing, and more than $2 billion to new equipment purchases, Peterson wrote.
Through the manufacturing expansion, Roche aims to weather the worst of industry-specific pharmaceutical tariffs that President Donald Trump has threatened to enact in recent weeks. “The pharmaceutical companies are going to come roaring back. They are coming roaring back. They are all coming back to our country because if they don’t, they got a big tax to pay. And if they do, I’ll be very happy,” Trump said during his April 2 “Liberation Day” announcement of reciprocal tariffs, but which were later paused 90 days for all nations except China.
Trump’s administration has also alarmed industry by considering an international reference pricing policy that would link U.S. drug prices to lower prices paid by other developed countries, Reuters reported.
Roche is the latest pharma giant to announce plans for expanding large-scale manufacturing in the United States. Novartis said it will spend $23 billion over five years on 10 U.S. sites, with the goal of producing all of its key medicines end-to-end in the U.S. Novartis said the expansion will create about 1,000 new jobs within Novartis and approximately 4,000 additional U.S. jobs at partner companies.
Seven of the 10 sites will be new facilities that include:
• A new second global R&D hub “in the San Diego area”
• Four new manufacturing facilities in states yet to be decided, of which three will make biologics drug substances, drug products, device assembly and packaging, while the fourth facility will make chemical drug substances, oral solids dosage forms, and packaging
• Two new radioligand therapy (RLT) manufacturing facilities, one each in Florida and Texas.
Novartis also plans to expand three existing RLT manufacturing facilities in Indianapolis, IN; Millburn, NJ; and Carlsbad, CA.
Companies that also announced increased U.S. manufacturing plans in recent months include:
• Johnson & Johnson announced plans to spend more than $55 billion over four years on additional U.S. manufacturing, including the construction of three new advanced manufacturing facilities and the expansion of several existing sites across J&J’s Innovative Medicine and MedTech businesses. One new facility has broken ground in Wilson, NC, where a 500,000 square foot biologics manufacturing facility is being built. The Wilson site will create over 500 J&J positions in North Carolina, following approximately 5,000 construction jobs.
• Eli Lilly said it will spend $27 billion to build four new U.S. sites, on top of $23 billion committed to expanding U.S. manufacturing since 2020. The projects are expected to create more than 3,000 jobs at Lilly and nearly 10,000 construction jobs.
• AstraZeneca last November announced $3.5 billion of capital investment in the United States focused on expanding its research and manufacturing footprint by the end of 2026. This includes $2 billion of new investment with projects including a new R&D center in Kendall Square, Cambridge, MA; a next-generation biologics manufacturing facility in Maryland; increased cell therapy manufacturing capacity on the West and East Coasts; and specialty manufacturing in Texas.
Pfizer Chairman and CEO Albert Bourla, DVM, PhD, who is also chair of the industry group Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America (PhRMA), said his company could carry out additional drug production in the United States, where it operates 13 manufacturing sites, in order to get around tariffs.
PhRMA, Bourla, and other biopharma leaders and groups have engaged Trump and officials with his administration in recent months, aiming to stave off or at least soften the effects of tariffs on their industry.
Roche was one of two biopharmas to disclose plans for expanded U.S. manufacturing.
Regeneron Pharmaceuticals has joined with contract development and manufacturing organization (CDMO) giant Fujifilm Diosynth Biotechnologies to announce a 10-year manufacturing supply agreement, valued at more than $3 billion, designed to provide U.S.-based production of biologics.
Fujifilm Diosynth—ranked among the top 10 CDMOs last year in GEN’s annual A-List—has agreed to produce Regeneron biologics at its $3.2 billion end-to-end biomanufacturing facility now completing construction in Holly Springs, NC.
The Holly Springs plant, set to begin operations later this year, last year attracted a commitment from Janssen Supply Group, a Johnson & Johnson subsidiary, to a large-scale manufacturing suite there.
In announcing the Regeneron agreement, Fujifilm Diosynth said it has added 500 new positions as part of its overall goal of creating 1,400 new jobs in North Carolina by 2031.
Fujifilm Diosynth’s president and CEO Lars Petersen told GEN Edge last year that an important factor in his company’s decision to expand its site was the more than $72 million in economic incentives hammered out by Fujifilm Diosynth, the state of North Carolina, the North Carolina Community College System, and various local governments that included Wake County and the Town of Holly Springs.
“Fujifilm Diosynth Biotechnologies will be bringing additional capacity online in 2025, 2026, and beyond as it completes the current $7 billion of expansion projects underway in both Europe and [the] United States,” stated Toshihisa Iida, director, corporate vice president, general manager of Life Sciences Strategy Headquarters and Bio-CDMO Division for Fujifilm Diosynth’s parent company Fujifilm.
The post Roche Commits $50B to U.S. Manufacturing, R&D as Tariffs Loom appeared first on GEN - Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology News.
Roche projected that its $50 billion manufacturing investment, to include research and development (R&D) operations, will generate 1,000 jobs at the company’s new and expanded facilities, plus another 11,000+ jobs (including almost 6,500 construction jobs) at companies that will partner with the pharma giant to support its expansion plans.
Roche now maintains 13 manufacturing and 15 R&D facilities within 24 U.S. sites that employ more than 25,000 people in eight U.S. states. The company said its manufacturing expansion will add to its U.S. workforce with:
• A new gene therapy manufacturing facility in Pennsylvania
• A new 900,000-square-foot manufacturing center at a location to be determined, designed to produce Roche’s expanding portfolio of next-generation weight loss medicines. Roche signaled it will grow that portfolio by launching an up to $5.3 billion collaboration with Zealand Pharma to co-develop Zealand’s petrelintide for overweight and obesity indications.
• A new manufacturing facility in Indiana designed to make continuous glucose monitoring devices
• A new R&D center in Massachusetts designed to conduct artificial intelligence (AI) research and serve as a hub for the company’s new cardiovascular, renal, and metabolism R&D efforts
“Today’s announced investments underscore our long-standing commitment to research, development, and manufacturing in the United States,” Thomas Schinecker, Roche Group CEO, said in a statement. The statement noted that Roche is a Swiss company (its headquarters are in Basel) that operates in more than 130 countries worldwide.
Roche added that once the new and expanded U.S. facilities are completed and come online, Roche will export more drugs from the U.S. overseas than it will import Stateside. The company said its diagnostics division already has an export surplus from the U.S. to other countries.
Investors on both sides of the Atlantic appeared unfazed by Roche’s news. The company’s shares on the SIX Swiss Exchange stayed all but flat, dipping 0.3% from CHF 255.60 ($313.12) to CHF 254.80 ($312.14) at the close of trading. In the U.S., however, Roche’s American Depositary Receipts (ADRs) traded on the Over-the-Counter OTCQX market inched up 0.4% from $38.85 to an even $39.
Roche is among biopharmas that have committed a combined $160 billion in new U.S. manufacturing initiatives, Jefferies analyst Tycho Peterson calculated in a research note, adding: “It is hard to see this not translating into some incremental impact over the coming years. A lot still remains difficult to triangulate, but we expect projects tied to revamping existing facilities to happen quicker” than build-outs of new or “greenfield” facilities.
“For Roche, we see potential $20B incremental spending” on capital expenditures, of which $8 billion would be directed to biologics manufacturing, and more than $2 billion to new equipment purchases, Peterson wrote.
Tariffs threatened
Through the manufacturing expansion, Roche aims to weather the worst of industry-specific pharmaceutical tariffs that President Donald Trump has threatened to enact in recent weeks. “The pharmaceutical companies are going to come roaring back. They are coming roaring back. They are all coming back to our country because if they don’t, they got a big tax to pay. And if they do, I’ll be very happy,” Trump said during his April 2 “Liberation Day” announcement of reciprocal tariffs, but which were later paused 90 days for all nations except China.
Trump’s administration has also alarmed industry by considering an international reference pricing policy that would link U.S. drug prices to lower prices paid by other developed countries, Reuters reported.
Roche is the latest pharma giant to announce plans for expanding large-scale manufacturing in the United States. Novartis said it will spend $23 billion over five years on 10 U.S. sites, with the goal of producing all of its key medicines end-to-end in the U.S. Novartis said the expansion will create about 1,000 new jobs within Novartis and approximately 4,000 additional U.S. jobs at partner companies.
Seven of the 10 sites will be new facilities that include:
• A new second global R&D hub “in the San Diego area”
• Four new manufacturing facilities in states yet to be decided, of which three will make biologics drug substances, drug products, device assembly and packaging, while the fourth facility will make chemical drug substances, oral solids dosage forms, and packaging
• Two new radioligand therapy (RLT) manufacturing facilities, one each in Florida and Texas.
Novartis also plans to expand three existing RLT manufacturing facilities in Indianapolis, IN; Millburn, NJ; and Carlsbad, CA.
Companies that also announced increased U.S. manufacturing plans in recent months include:
• Johnson & Johnson announced plans to spend more than $55 billion over four years on additional U.S. manufacturing, including the construction of three new advanced manufacturing facilities and the expansion of several existing sites across J&J’s Innovative Medicine and MedTech businesses. One new facility has broken ground in Wilson, NC, where a 500,000 square foot biologics manufacturing facility is being built. The Wilson site will create over 500 J&J positions in North Carolina, following approximately 5,000 construction jobs.
• Eli Lilly said it will spend $27 billion to build four new U.S. sites, on top of $23 billion committed to expanding U.S. manufacturing since 2020. The projects are expected to create more than 3,000 jobs at Lilly and nearly 10,000 construction jobs.
• AstraZeneca last November announced $3.5 billion of capital investment in the United States focused on expanding its research and manufacturing footprint by the end of 2026. This includes $2 billion of new investment with projects including a new R&D center in Kendall Square, Cambridge, MA; a next-generation biologics manufacturing facility in Maryland; increased cell therapy manufacturing capacity on the West and East Coasts; and specialty manufacturing in Texas.
Pfizer Chairman and CEO Albert Bourla, DVM, PhD, who is also chair of the industry group Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America (PhRMA), said his company could carry out additional drug production in the United States, where it operates 13 manufacturing sites, in order to get around tariffs.
PhRMA, Bourla, and other biopharma leaders and groups have engaged Trump and officials with his administration in recent months, aiming to stave off or at least soften the effects of tariffs on their industry.
Regeneron, Fujifilm Diosynth ink $3B agreement
Roche was one of two biopharmas to disclose plans for expanded U.S. manufacturing.
Regeneron Pharmaceuticals has joined with contract development and manufacturing organization (CDMO) giant Fujifilm Diosynth Biotechnologies to announce a 10-year manufacturing supply agreement, valued at more than $3 billion, designed to provide U.S.-based production of biologics.
Fujifilm Diosynth—ranked among the top 10 CDMOs last year in GEN’s annual A-List—has agreed to produce Regeneron biologics at its $3.2 billion end-to-end biomanufacturing facility now completing construction in Holly Springs, NC.
The Holly Springs plant, set to begin operations later this year, last year attracted a commitment from Janssen Supply Group, a Johnson & Johnson subsidiary, to a large-scale manufacturing suite there.
In announcing the Regeneron agreement, Fujifilm Diosynth said it has added 500 new positions as part of its overall goal of creating 1,400 new jobs in North Carolina by 2031.
Fujifilm Diosynth’s president and CEO Lars Petersen told GEN Edge last year that an important factor in his company’s decision to expand its site was the more than $72 million in economic incentives hammered out by Fujifilm Diosynth, the state of North Carolina, the North Carolina Community College System, and various local governments that included Wake County and the Town of Holly Springs.
“Fujifilm Diosynth Biotechnologies will be bringing additional capacity online in 2025, 2026, and beyond as it completes the current $7 billion of expansion projects underway in both Europe and [the] United States,” stated Toshihisa Iida, director, corporate vice president, general manager of Life Sciences Strategy Headquarters and Bio-CDMO Division for Fujifilm Diosynth’s parent company Fujifilm.
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