As part of a growing trend among pharmaceutical giants to reshore their operations, AstraZeneca (AZN) announced on Monday that it will invest $50 billion in U.S. manufacturing by 2030. This is the company’s largest commitment to date. The action follows a pledge by big pharma peers of more than $200 billion in combined investments in response to growing political pressure and impending tariffs on imported drug components. The investment, according to the UK-based pharmaceutical company, will include building a new advanced manufacturing facility in Virginia as well as expanding current locations in Maryland and Massachusetts.
AstraZeneca Commits $50 Billion to U.S. Manufacturing
“The cornerstone of this landmark investment is a new multi-billion dollar US manufacturing facility that will produce drug substances for the Company’s innovative weight management and metabolic portfolio, including oral GLP-1, baxdrostat, oral PCSK9 and combination small molecule products,” the company stated. “The new state-of-the-art centre will produce small molecules, peptides and oligonucleotides.”
The United States currently accounts for 42% of AstraZeneca’s revenue, but CEO Pascal Soriot hopes the new investment will increase that percentage to 50%. Soriot highlighted the company’s strategic focus on GLP-1s, the increasingly well-liked class of medications used to treat diabetes and obesity, in an interview with Yahoo Finance. “We have bet on oral (GLP-1 pills) because we think they are going to be easier for patients because they will be cheaper, more accessible, and we’ll be able to export them around the world,” Soriot said.
The larger pharmaceutical sector has adopted similar investment tactics to comply with former President Donald Trump’s reshoring agenda and avoid the high tariffs scheduled to take effect on August 1. Soriot expressed confidence in AstraZeneca’s stance, despite some industry leaders expressing concerns about the tariff timeline. “I think tariffs are an issue, and a threat for some companies. To some extent, we are insulated, and we will be further insulated with the investments we are making now,” he said.
Leaders pushing for more time
AstraZeneca’s most recent pledge places it in second place among the industry’s reshoring leaders, surpassing Eli Lilly’s (LLY) $50 billion commitment but trailing behind Johnson & Johnson’s (JNJ) $55 billion pledge. In late 2024, AstraZeneca had previously declared a $3.5 billion investment in the United States.
Leaders in the industry are still pleading with the Trump administration for additional time to transition operations. The company is urging the administration to understand that such manufacturing shifts take time, J&J CFO Joe Wolk told Yahoo Finance. In the meantime, Dave Ricks, CEO of Eli Lilly, proposed that exemptions for low-margin and generic medications from tariffs might be a feasible solution.
AstraZeneca’s $50 billion wager underscores a broader industry shift driven by geopolitical risks, domestic policy incentives, and the increasing demand for next-generation metabolic therapies as the August 1 tariff deadline approaches.
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