As Trump visits UK, GSK pledges $30bn in US investment

As President Donald Trump started his state visit to the UK, GSK unveiled a massive $30 billion investment in manufacturing and R&D in the US.

The revelation is just the latest in a long list of pledges on new builds and upgrades to US facilities by big pharma groups, and in common with many of them, comprises a mix of new projects and already-announced investments. It comes amid pressure from Trump to onshore and reshore manufacturing in order to avoid tariffs on imported medicines.

GSK's $30 billion programme, promised over the next five years, includes a new tranche of $1.2 billion that will go towards manufacturing facilities and projects involved with AI and advanced digital technologies and, according to the company, will create "hundreds of highly skilled US jobs."

The aim is to deliver "new, next-generation biopharma factories and laboratories in the US," said the company.

Headlining the investment package is the construction from next year of an additional biologics facility at GSK's site in Upper Merion, Pennsylvania, that will be devoted to new medicines for respiratory diseases and cancer.

It will also go towards new AI and digital projects at GSK's five current manufacturing sites in four US states – Pennsylvania, North Carolina, Maryland, and Montana – as well as new drug substance manufacturing units and greater capacity for producing medical and auto-injector devices.

The US accounted for nearly 51% of GSK's total revenues of £15.5 billion ($21.15 billion) in the first half of this year, although, the company saw its sales there shrink slightly as a result of the introduction of changes to Medicare under the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) that affected the prices it was able to charge for some of its products, including speciality medicines and vaccines.

"Alongside the many longstanding and vital shared interests that connect the UK and the US, is advancing life sciences to get ahead of disease," commented GSK chief executive Emma Walmsley.

"This week's state visit brings together two countries that have led the world in science and healthcare innovation," she added. "We are proud to be part of both."

Walmsley took pains to also reference GSK's £1.5 billion investment each year in UK manufacturing and R&D, shortly after the country's life sciences sector was rocked by the abandonment of major investment programmes by MSD, AstraZeneca, and Eli Lilly.

News of the new investment in the US comes just under a year after GSK started construction of a new $800 million facility at its site in Marietta, Pennsylvania, mainly for vaccines, that is expected to create around 200 new jobs.

GSK's announcement comes after the UK and US agreed a Tech Prosperity Deal, signalling closer collaboration in areas like AI, quantum, and nuclear, and including a pact to speed up world-leading AI research to help develop new drugs, faster life-saving treatments and improved cancer care.

UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer said GSK's US investment "will change lives on both sides of the Atlantic," adding: "It's a powerful example of how UK–US collaboration is driving real-world impact – improving people's health, creating opportunity, and turbocharging growth."