AstraZeneca reveals $50bn investment in US facilities

While the Trump administration's threat of tariffs on pharmaceutical imports has yet to materialise, AstraZeneca has followed in the footsteps of several of its peers and announced an investment in US manufacturing and R&D.

The Cambridge, UK-headquartered company has said it will invest $50 billion in the US by 2030, with the centrepiece of its plans a new-build manufacturing facility in Virginia accompanied by upgrades and expansions to R&D and production units in Maryland, Massachusetts, California, Indiana, and Texas.

Trump has threatened tariffs on imported medicines of up to 200%, but also promised concessions to companies who commit to shifting manufacturing of drugs intended for use by Americans to the US. AZ joins lengthening list of drugmakers that have succumbed to that pressure, alongside AbbVie, Roche, Novartis, Eli Lilly, and Johnson & Johnson.

AZ said the investment in the world's largest pharma market will support its target of growing annual revenues to $80 billion by 2030, half from the US market, from a level of just over $54 billion last year.

The Virginia plant will be the group's largest investment in a single manufacturing facility to date, billed as a 'multibillion-dollar' project, and will supply drug substances for AZ's weight management and metabolic diseases business, including "small molecules, peptides, and oligonucleotides."

That includes oral GLP-1 receptor agonist AZD5004, licensed from China's Ecogene in 2023 and heading for phase 2b testing, alongside soon-to-be-filed baxdrostat franchise for high blood pressure, oral PCSK9 inhibitor AZD0780 for high cholesterol, and combination small-molecule products.

Chief executive Pascal Soriot said the investment "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."

Commenting on AZ's commitment, US Secretary of Commerce, Howard Lutnick, said: "For decades Americans have been reliant on foreign supply of key pharmaceutical products. President Trump and our nation's new tariff policies are focused on ending this structural weakness."

He added: "We are proud that AstraZeneca has made the decision to bring substantial pharmaceutical production to our shores. This historic investment is bringing tens of thousands of jobs to the US and will ensure medicine sold in our country is produced right here."

The investment programme follows AZ's decision not to build a £450 million ($558 million) vaccines plant in the UK earlier this year, and an earlier $3.5 billion investment programme in the US.

There have also been reports that AZ would like to shift its primary stock exchange listing from the UK to the US, which would be a major blow to the UK stock market. AZ has been angered by a recent decision not to fund NHS use of its breast cancer therapy Enhertu (trastuzumab deruxtecan), as well as rocketing rebates on the sales of newer products to the NHS via the voluntary and statutory schemes.