Novartis plans to build manufacturing hub in North Carolina with $771M investment

To ensure its medicines for U.S. patients are manufactured domestically, Swiss pharmaceutical giant Novartis will invest $771 million to construct a flagship manufacturing hub in North Carolina, enabling production across the drugmaker’s main therapeutic areas in a single geographic location.

The hub will provide end-to-end manufacturing capabilities — from producing active pharmaceutical ingredients to final packaging — for Novartis’ oncology, immunology, neuroscience, cardiovascular, renal, and metabolic therapeutics. The proximity of the hub’s facilities will allow its teams and production processes “to work in tandem” and create manufacturing efficiencies, according to Novartis’ announcement.  

The company plans to expand its existing Durham facility with the added capability to support sterile filling of biologics into syringes and vials. New construction will include two facilities in Durham to manufacture biologics and sterile packaging, as well as a new site in Morrisville to produce solid dosage tablets and capsules — including packaging.

“The expansion, which combines new construction with the renovation of existing facilities across three sites, will nearly double Novartis’ operational footprint to more than 700,000 square feet,” the office of North Carolina Governor Josh Stein said in its announcement. “This expansion will support a broader portfolio of pharmaceutical products, including advanced biologics manufacturing, filling and packaging capabilities, as well as small molecule medicines.”

Novartis expects to create 700 new jobs by the end of 2030, between the existing campus and new facilities, with more than 3,000 indirect jobs across the supply chain.

“By building a full, end-to-end manufacturing presence in North Carolina for our broader portfolio, we are expanding our capacity to deliver medical breakthroughs, securing a more resilient U.S. supply chain, and investing in the local communities that make our mission possible,” Novartis CEO Vas Narasimhan said in a statement.

In April, Novartis announced it will invest $23 billion over five years on 10 U.S. manufacturing and R&D sites — including seven new facilities, six of which will be manufacturing plants. The company’s North Carolina expansion is part of its $23 billion investment and goal of fully producing 100% of its key medicines end-to-end in the U.S.

Novartis is focused on growing its three emerging platforms — cell and gene therapies, radioligand therapy, and xRNA — which are being prioritized for continued investment into new R&D capabilities and manufacturing scale.

Cell and gene therapies are currently manufactured in Durham, North Carolina and Morris Plains, New Jersey, while radioligand therapies are produced at Novartis facilities in Carlsbad, California, Indianapolis, Indiana, and Millburn, New Jersey, with two new sites planned in Florida and Texas. In the coming months, the company said it will announce the location of a new facility for manufacturing xRNA therapies.

Last week, Novartis announced the opening of a 10,000-square-foot radioligand therapy facility in Carlsbad. Commercial production is expected to begin following regulatory approval.

North Carolina’s status as one of the top U.S. locations for biomanufacturing continues to grow. Raleigh-Cary and Durham-Chapel Hill recently secured the first and third spots, respectively, as the nation’s most competitive markets for the production of therapeutic biologics.

In recent years, North Carolina has emerged as a major biomanufacturing hub attracting big investments from large biopharma companies and contract manufacturers. However, it hasn’t been without its challenges as companies are competing to secure construction workers, including electricians in the Tar Heel State.