With tariffs set to take effect Oct. 1 on certain pharmaceuticals, major drugmakers have been accelerating investments in U.S. manufacturing.
Here are five updates:
- Eli Lilly is building a $6.5 billion manufacturing facility in Houston for active pharmaceutical ingredients, according to a Sept. 23 news release. The site will be one of the facilities to manufacture Eli Lilly’s first oral GLP-1, orforglipron, and will aim to onshore API production capabilities. This comes after the drugmaker also announced its investment in a $5 billion API facility in Virginia.
- GSK will invest $30 billion across the U.S. in research and development and supply chain infrastructure for the next five years, according to a Sept. 17 news release. This includes a $1.2 billion investment in advanced manufacturing capabilities and new AI and technology capabilities across five GSK facilities.
- In April, Novartis also said it plans to spend $23 billion to build and expand 10 facilities in the U.S. This includes building six new manufacturing sites along with a research and development site in San Diego. The announcement came two days after President Donald Trump announced upcoming “major” tariffs on pharmaceutical imports.
- Following tariff pressures, AbbVie said on a call with analysts in April that it plans to invest $10 billion through 2035 to support its current growth plans and expand more into new areas like obesity. A portion of the investment will go toward building four new production facilities for APIs, drug products, peptides and devices, CFO Scott Rents said.
- Most recently, President Donald Trump announced that the U.S. will start imposing a 100% tariff on all branded or patented pharmaceutical products as of Oct. 1, unless the manufacturer is building a facility.
“‘IS BUILDING’ will be defined as, ‘breaking ground’ and/or ‘under construction,'” the president wrote in a Sept. 25 Truth Social post. “There will, therefore, be no Tariff on these Pharmaceutical Products if construction has started.”
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