Editor’s (re)View: AstraZeneca, Biogen, Thermo Fisher latest to jump on US investment bandwagon

    July 25, 2025
    With the looming threat of Trump’s tariffs on pharmaceuticals, major drugmakers continue to invest billions of dollars in domestic manufacturing in the United States.
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    Earlier this month, President Donald Trump threatened to impose up to a 200% tariff on pharmaceuticals imported to the United States, as part of his administration’s strategy to pressure drugmakers to increase domestic manufacturing of medicines. It’s a threat that appears to be working.

    On Monday, AstraZeneca announced that it will invest $50 billion in manufacturing and R&D in the U.S. by 2030, as the company looks to reach its goal of $80 billion in revenue with 50% generated in this country. The commitment includes a new multibillion-dollar drug substance manufacturing facility in Virginia — the U.K.-based company’s largest single investment in a facility to date.

    CEO Pascal Soriot in a statement said the outlay “underpins our belief in America’s innovation in biopharmaceuticals.” In AstraZeneca’s press release announcing its $50 billion U.S. investment, Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick said in a statement that Americans have been reliant on foreign supply of key pharmaceutical products for decades and that Trump’s “new tariff policies are focused on ending this structural weakness.”

    This week, biotechnology company Biogen said it will invest $2 billion to expand its manufacturing operations in North Carolina’s Research Triangle Park. The investment will include the build-out of antisense oligonucleotide infrastructure and new fill-finish capabilities for clinical and commercial products.

    Last week, Thermo Fisher Scientific announced it is buying for an undisclosed amount French drugmaker Sanofi’s sterile fill-finish and packaging site in Ridgefield, New Jersey. Thermo Fisher CEO Marc Casper told analysts in an earnings call this week that in the biopharma industry there’s a “heightened level of interest” in expanding U.S. manufacturing capacity.

    Big Pharma companies including AbbVie, Bristol Myers Squibb, Eli Lilly, Gilead Sciences, Johnson & Johnson, Novartis, Roche, Sanofi, and Takeda have all pledged billions of dollars in U.S. investment in recent months.

    In a report released last month, commercial real estate and investment management company JLL noted that 15 major pharma companies have so far announced more than $270 billion in U.S. manufacturing and R&D investments planned over the next five to 10 years.

    “Large and public commitments by global pharmaceutical companies is off the charts,” Mark Bruso, director, Boston and national life sciences research at JLL, said in a statement. “Even if it takes a while to materialize, it is undoubtedly an unmitigated tailwind for the manufacturing sector.”

    About the Author

    Greg Slabodkin | Editor in Chief

    As Editor in Chief, Greg oversees all aspects of planning, managing and producing the content for Pharma Manufacturing’s print magazines, website, digital products, and in-person events, as well as the daily operations of its editorial team.

    For more than 20 years, Greg has covered the healthcare, life sciences, and medical device industries for several trade publications. He is the recipient of a Post-Newsweek Business Information Editorial Excellence Award for his news reporting and a Gold Award for Best Case Study from the American Society of Healthcare Publication Editors. In addition, Greg is a Healthcare Fellow from the Society for Advancing Business Editing and Writing.

    When not covering the pharma manufacturing industry, he is an avid Buffalo Bills football fan, likes to kayak and plays guitar.