GSK to invest $30B in US R&D, manufacturing over five years

Timed to coincide with President Donald Trump’s state visit this week to the United Kingdom, GSK on Wednesday announced plans to invest $30 billion in its U.S research and development and manufacturing infrastructure over the next five years.

The capital expenditure is meant to deliver “new, next-generation biopharma factories and laboratories in the United States” to develop and make products in the U.S. for the domestic market, according to the announcement.

The $30 billion investment includes $1.2 billion earmarked for new artificial intelligence (AI) and digital technology for GSK’s existing five manufacturing sites in Maryland, Montana, North Carolina, and Pennsylvania, as well as new drug substance manufacturing and enhanced device and auto-injector capabilities.

In 2026, construction is slated to start on an AI-powered biologics “flex factory” in Upper Merion, Pennsylvania for new medicines for respiratory disease (asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease) and cancer (gynecological, hematological, lung, and other solid tumors).

“New facilities will bridge R&D and manufacturing across both the U.S. and U.K., strengthening the two countries’ leadership in life sciences,” GSK said.

The company has committed new investments of approximately $2 billion in U.S. manufacturing over the past year. In October 2024, construction began on a new $800 million facility at GSK’s Marietta, Pennsylvania site, with plans to double its size and capacity. At the time, the drugmaker said the Marietta project marked its largest U.S. investment to date.

In a statement on Wednesday, CEO Emma Walmsley said GSK’s $30 billion investment in the U.S over the next five years bolsters its “already strong R&D and supply chain” in the country. Walmsley told analysts during a second quarter 2025 earnings call in late July that more than 50% of GSK’s business currently comes from the U.S., with two-thirds of the company’s pipeline this year — focused on innovation and growth — based in the country.

Walmsley contends GSK is “well positioned” when it comes to its manufacturing footprint, as the drugmaker broke ground on the new factory in Marietta and supply chain optimization is “setting up” shifts in some of its production to address the potential impacts of U.S. tariffs.

Last month, Trump warned that levies on pharmaceutical imports to the U.S. could reach 250%. Under Section 232 of the Trade Expansion Act, the Department of Commerce is investigating the feasibility of increasing domestic capacity for pharmaceuticals and pharmaceutical ingredients to reduce import reliance, and whether pharma-specific tariffs are necessary.

“We’re waiting on the 232 investigation and the sort of specifics of that still need to become clearer,” Walmsley told analysts in July. “I think it would be fair to say that you always have to separate from the headlines to the reality of what’s delivered. And whilst on the one hand, we’re now seeing numbers and indications that perhaps are not as high as in the first run of this. On the other hand, it is very, very real in terms of focused on U.S. manufacturing and sourcing.”