Novartis to build fifth US radioligand therapy manufacturing plant

The 46,000-square-foot Denton, Texas facility, part of the company’s $23 billion investment to expand its U.S. operations, is expected to be operational in 2028.

Feb. 26, 2026

2 min read

a female worker in personal protective equipment examines materials inside the refrigeration room of Novartis radioligand therapy (RLT) manufacturing facility

Novartis, a Switzerland-based medicines company, has announced plans to construct a 46,000-square-foot radioligand therapy (RLT) manufacturing facility in Denton, Texas.

The site will be Novartis’ fifth RLT manufacturing facility in the United States and its first manufacturing operation in Texas. Construction is scheduled to begin in 2026, with operations expected to start in 2028. The project is part of the company’s previously announced $23 billion investment to expand its U.S. operations.

Novartis said the Denton facility will manufacture radioligand therapies for patients in the Southern U.S., adding network capacity as RLT programs expand into earlier lines of treatment and additional tumor types. The site is expected to create jobs in bioengineering, advanced manufacturing, quality, and operations.

Radioligand therapies are custom-manufactured and time-sensitive, requiring coordinated production and distribution to ensure doses are administered on schedule. Novartis said its U.S. RLT network currently includes facilities in New Jersey, Indiana and California, as well as a previously announced site in Florida. The company’s manufacturing network has enabled more than 99% of doses to be delivered on the planned day, according to the announcement.

The Texas expansion follows additional U.S. manufacturing investments. In December 2025, Novartis broke ground on a $771 million, 700,000-square-foot manufacturing hub in North Carolina, including a new facility in Morrisville, two facilities in Durham, and the expansion of an existing Durham operation. The project is expected to create approximately 700 direct jobs by 2030 and is scheduled to open between 2027 and 2028.

Over the past 10 months, Novartis said it has broken ground on four new manufacturing and R&D facilities, initiated three facility expansions, and announced two additional sites in the U.S., reflecting an accelerated buildout of its domestic manufacturing footprint.

The company said it is investigating RLT applications across multiple cancer types, including prostate, breast, colon, lung, brain, and pancreatic cancers.

This piece was created with the help of generative AI tools and edited by our content team for clarity and accuracy.