Novartis pledges $23B U.S. expansion

Novartis unveiled a planned $23 billion investment over five years in U.S.-based infrastructure, with the goal of “ensuring all key Novartis medicines for U.S. patients will be made in the United States.”

According to Novartis, the investments ensure that the company will have U.S. manufacturing capacity for all its core technology platforms, including small molecules, biologics, cell and gene therapy and radioligand therapy manufacturing. The company currently has a 170,000 square-foot gene therapy manufacturing facility in North Carolina, opened in 2022, as well as a Libertyville, Illinois site used to manufacture Zolgensma. The new investment will also bring internal manufacturing of Novartis’ siRNA technology to the U.S. for the first time. 

With new manufacturing capacity, Novartis says it will be able to produce 100% of its key medicines end-to-end in the U.S.

The commitment will include building seven new U.S. facilities, creating nearly 1,000 new jobs at Novartis. The production capacity will cover both APIs and biologics drug substance, as well as secondary production and packaging. Novartis plans to build a $1.1 billion biomedical research innovation hub in San Diego, California, expected to open between 2028 and 2029.

Novartis’ push to step up manufacturing investments in the U.S. comes shortly after President Trump revealed his ‘Liberation Day’ tariffs, and follows moves from pharma giants Pfizer, Eli Lilly and Merck & Co.