March 9 (Reuters) – Global drugmakers are ramping up U.S. manufacturing and stockpiling inventory as the Trump administration considers a 100% tariff on imported branded and patented medicines.
Although enforcement is delayed for companies investing in U.S. manufacturing, the policy has already prompted fast-tracked projects, price cuts and direct-to-consumer sales.
Pfizer and AstraZeneca secured multi-year tariff exemptions through pricing deals and commitments to the new TrumpRx.gov platform. Eli Lilly, Johnson & Johnson and Merck have pledged billions to expand U.S. operations to avoid penalties.
Here’s what drugmakers are doing to mitigate supply-chain risks and reassure investors:
Pfizer
Pfizer reached a deal with President Donald Trump on September 30 to invest $70 billion in research and development and domestic manufacturing, and received a three-year grace period exempting its products from the pharmaceutical-targeted tariffs.
GSK
The London-based drugmaker plans to invest $30 billion in U.S. research and development and supply chain infrastructure over five years.
Eli Lilly
U.S. President Donald Trump said in January that Eli Lilly plans to build six plants in the United States.
Lilly said last year that it planned to spend at least $27 billion to build four U.S. plants to expand production and bolster medical supply chains. The company has since announced details on three plants, in Alabama, Virginia and Texas.
Lilly in January said it will build a $3.5 billion pharmaceutical manufacturing facility in Pennsylvania, its fourth new site, in an effort to expand U.S. production and bolster medical supply chains.
Johnson & Johnson
The drugmaker plans to raise U.S. investments by 25%, totaling $55 billion, over the next four years. It plans to build four plants, including one at Wilson, North Carolina, and another at Tokyo-based Fujifilm Biotechnologies’ manufacturing site in Holly Springs, North Carolina, over the next 10 years.
The company said in February it would invest more than $1 billion to build a new cell therapy facility in Pennsylvania, part of its larger plans announced last year to scale up U.S. manufacturing.
Roche
The Swiss drugmaker said in April last year it would invest $50 billion in the U.S. over the next five years.
A month later, it announced an additional $550 million investment to expand its Indianapolis diagnostics manufacturing hub. The expansion will span Indiana, Pennsylvania, Massachusetts, and California, creating more than 12,000 jobs.
In January, Roche said it will more than double its investment in its drug manufacturing facility in Holly Springs, North Carolina, to about $2 billion, up from the over $700 million announced in May 2025.
AstraZeneca
The Anglo-Swedish drugmaker will invest $50 billion on U.S. manufacturing by 2030. The investment will fund a new drug substance facility in Virginia, its largest single-site global investment, alongside expansions in Maryland, Massachusetts, California, Indiana and Texas.
It has already started technology transfers and is managing inventory in 2025 to minimize any tariff hit. Company executives have said the impact would be “very short-lived.”
Novartis
The Swiss drugmaker plans to spend $23 billion to build and expand 10 facilities in the U.S. over the next five years. This includes building six new manufacturing plants and expanding its San Diego research and development site, which is expected to create more than 1,000 jobs.
Sanofi
The French drugmaker plans to invest at least $20 billion in the U.S. through 2030 to boost manufacturing and research. Sanofi plans to expand its U.S. manufacturing capacity through direct investments in the company’s sites and partnerships with other domestic manufacturers.
Chief Financial Officer François Roger said in July the potential tariffs are expected to have a limited impact in 2025, as the company already has inventory in place in the U.S.
Biogen
The U.S. drugmaker will invest $2 billion more in its existing manufacturing plants in North Carolina, adding capacity for gene-targeting therapies and automation. The company has seven factories in the state, with an eighth set to begin operations in late 2025.
Merck
The U.S. drugmaker has begun building a $3 billion pharmaceutical manufacturing plant in Virginia as part of its over $70 billion investment to expand domestic manufacturing and research and development.
It will also invest $1 billion in a new Delaware plant to make biologics and cancer drug Keytruda, to boost U.S. production and potentially create over 4,500 jobs. It also opened a $1 billion facility at its North Carolina site in March.
Merck’s animal health unit will invest $895 million to expand its Kansas manufacturing and R&D site, part of a broader $9 billion U.S. investment through 2028.
CEO Robert Davis in July flagged minimal impact from potential tariffs in 2025, and that the company remained well-positioned due to inventory management and moving of manufacturing to the U.S.
Amgen
The U.S.-based biopharma firm plans to invest $900 million to expand its Ohio manufacturing facility, bringing total investment in the state to $1.4 billion and adding 750 jobs. In December, the company committed $1 billion to build a second facility in Holly Springs, North Carolina.
Amgen said in September it is investing more than $600 million to build a new research and development center at its headquarters in Thousand Oaks, California.
The drugmaker announced it will invest $650 million to expand drug manufacturing at its facility in Juncos, Puerto Rico, a move expected to create nearly 750 jobs.
Novo Nordisk
The Danish pharmaceutical company said in August its strong U.S. manufacturing footprint positions it well for tariff challenges, describing itself as “very U.S.-centric and U.S.-focused”.
AbbVie
U.S. drugmaker AbbVie said in January it has committed $100 billion over the next decade to U.S.-based research and development as part of its three-year deal with the Trump administration to reduce drug prices.
It has 11 manufacturing sites in the U.S. and has said it is “fairly insulated” from any tariff impact this year, given inventory management actions.
The company said in February that it plans to invest $380 million to build two manufacturing facilities at its current North Chicago, Illinois, campus, to support the production of its neuroscience and obesity medications.
Gilead Sciences
Earlier this year, the drugmaker announced $11 billion in new planned investment in the U.S. to add to its domestic manufacturing and research heft, taking its total pledged investment to $32 billion.
Gilead said in September that it started work on a pharmaceutical development and manufacturing hub at its headquarters in Foster City, California, in addition to which, it is currently developing two other sites.
Cipla
The Indian drugmaker is expanding its U.S. manufacturing footprint by investing in capacity expansion for complex respiratory products at its advanced facilities in Fall River, Massachusetts, and Central Islip, New York.
CSL
Australia’s CSL said in November it would invest $1.5 billion in the U.S. to manufacture plasma-derived therapies, expanding its footprint in the country over the next five years.
In March, the company announced the expansion of its plasma therapy manufacturing facility in Kankakee, Illinois, which is expected to be operational by 2031.
(Reporting by Siddhi Mahatole, Kamal Choudhury, Puyaan Singh, Sneha S K and Sahil Pandey in Bengaluru; Editing by Tasim Zahid, Sahal Muhammed, Shinjini Ganguli and Maju Samuel)
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