AbbVie invests $380M to expand API production at flagship campus in Illinois

AbbVie, a research-based biopharmaceutical company headquartered in North Chicago, Illinois, announced a $380 million investment to build two new active pharmaceutical ingredient (API) manufacturing facilities at its flagship campus.

The new facilities will incorporate advanced manufacturing technologies and artificial intelligence to support the production of next-generation neuroscience and obesity medicines, the company said. Construction is scheduled to begin in spring 2026, with operations expected to start in 2029.

AbbVie plans to hire approximately 300 employees to support the expansion, including engineers, scientists, manufacturing operators, and laboratory technicians, according to the announcement.

Last month, AbbVie announced that it struck a drug pricing agreement with the Trump administration in exchange for a three-year exemption from tariffs. At the time, the drugmaker also pledged $100 billion in U.S.-based R&D and capital investments, including manufacturing, over the next decade. It is a significant increase from AbbVie’s commitment in 2025 to invest more than $10 billion in its U.S. manufacturing over the next 10 years.

In September 2025, the company broke ground on a new chemical synthesis facility as the first phase of its API expansion strategy. That plant is intended to enable the return of API production for select neuroscience, immunology, and oncology products from Europe and Asia to the U.S.

AbbVie employs approximately 29,000 people in the U.S., including more than 6,000 at domestic manufacturing sites, and 11,500 at its Illinois headquarters.

The company also said it recently announced plans to acquire a device manufacturing facility in Arizona and to invest in its manufacturing facility in Massachusetts. AbbVie is in discussions with multiple U.S. states regarding potential future manufacturing investments and expects to announce additional projects in 2026, according to the announcement.