AstraZeneca (AZ) has become the latest major drugmaker to announce a significant investment in the US, committing $50bn into the country by 2030.
The funds will go towards establishing a multi-billion dollar manufacturing facility that will produce drug substances for AZ’s weight management and metabolic portfolio, including oral GLP-1, baxdrostat, oral PCSK9 and combination small molecule products.
Set to be located in Virginia, the facility will represent AZ’s largest single manufacturing investment globally and will seek to optimise production by leveraging artificial intelligence, automation and data analytics.
Governor Glenn Youngkin, Commonwealth of Virginia, said: “This project will set the standard for the latest technological advancements in pharmaceutical manufacturing, creating hundreds of highly skilled jobs and helping further strengthen the nation’s domestic supply chain.”
Alongside the drug substance facility, the investment will cover a research and development (R&D) centre in Kendall Square, Cambridge, Massachusetts, as well as next-generation manufacturing facilities for cell therapy in Rockville, Maryland and Tarzana, California.
The commitment will also go towards expanding AZ’s R&D facility in Gaithersburg, Maryland, as well as bolstering manufacturing capabilities in Mount Vernon, Indiana and Coppell, Texas.
Together, the investments will support AZ’s target of reaching $80bn in Total Revenue by 2030, 50% of which is expected to be generated in the US, the company outlined.
AZ’s chief executive officer, Pascal Soriot, said: “[This] announcement underpins our belief in America’s innovation in biopharmaceuticals and our commitment to the millions of patients who need our medicines in America and globally.”
The announcement comes after AZ unveiled a $3.5bn US investment in November to expand its research and manufacturing footprint by 2026.
“By expanding our R&D and manufacturing footprint, we aim to enhance the development of cutting-edge therapies and support the US leadership in healthcare innovation,” Soriot said at the time of the announcement.
The company also said in March that it would be investing $2.5bn in China over the next five years to “further advance life sciences” in the country, and announced in May last year that it would be building a $1.5bn antibody drug conjugate (ADC) manufacturing facility in Singapore.