Roche
is
pledging
to
invest
$50
billion
in
manufacturing
and
research
infrastructure
in
the
U.S.
over
the
next
five
years,
making
the
pharmaceutical
giant
the
latest
company
to
unveil
a
capital
expenditure
push
as
drugmakers
prepare
for
expected
tariffs
from
the
Trump
administration.
The
administration
is
still
working
out
the
details
about
how
to
apply
tariffs
to
pharmaceuticals.
But
pharma
companies
could
potentially
avoid
them
by
manufacturing
more
of
their
medicines
in
the
U.S.
Basel,
Switzerland-based
Roche
currently
maintains
13
manufacturing
and
15
R&D
sites
in
the
U.S.
across
its
pharmaceutical
and
diagnostics
divisions.
These
sites
employ
more
than
25,000.
Roche’s
U.S.
presence
includes
South
San
Francisco-based
subsidiary
Genentech
and
its
Roche
Diagnostics
division,
which
maintains
North
American
headquarters
in
Indianapolis.
Roche’s
new
capital
investment
plans
announced
Tuesday
will
expand
certain
existing
Roche
sites
and
add
some
new
ones.
Planned
new
sites
include
a
gene
therapy
manufacturing
facility
in
Pennsylvania,
a
glucose
monitor
manufacturing
site
in
Indiana,
and
a
new
R&D
center
in
Massachusetts.
The
research
site
will
work
in
artificial
intelligence
and
will
also
serve
as
a
hub
for
cardiovascular,
renal,
and
metabolism
R&D.
Last
month,
Roche
announced
it
would
establish
this
30,000
square-foot
site
at
Harvard’s
Enterprise
Research
Campus
in
Boston.
A
new
900,000
square
foot
manufacturing
center
for
weight
loss
medicines
is
also
planned,
but
the
location
remains
undisclosed.
Roche
joined
the
growing
group
of
companies
developing
obesity
medications
with
its
$2.7
billion
Carmot
Therapeutics
acquisition
in
2023,
which
brought
clinical-stage
injectable
and
oral
metabolic
medicines.
Last
month,
Roche
reached
a
$1.65
billion
deal
to
partner
in
the
development
of
a
Zealand
Pharma
obesity
drug
that
goes
after
a
different
target
than
the
currently
available
weight
management
medications.
The
deal
terms
make
Roche
responsible
for
manufacturing
and
supplying
that
engineered
peptide,
petrelintide.
Once
the
new
and
expanded
manufacturing
capacity
comes
online,
Roche
said
the
company
will
export
more
medicines
from
the
U.S.
than
it
imports
into
the
country.
But
given
the
timelines
for
constructing
pharmaceutical
manufacturing
infrastructure,
that
export
surplus
is
years
away.
Roche
said
its
diagnostics
division
already
has
a
U.S.
export
surplus.
“Roche
is
a
Swiss
company
with
a
strong
heritage
in
more
than
130
countries
globally,”
Roche
Group
CEO
Thomas
Schinecker
said
in
a
prepared
statement.
“Today’s
announced
investments
underscore
our
long-standing
commitment
to
research,
development
and
manufacturing
in
the
U.S.”
Roche’s
manufacturing
plans
follow
capital
expenditure
announcements
from
several
of
its
big
pharma
peers.
In
February,
Eli
Lilly
announced
ongoing
capital
investments
in
Indiana
and
elsewhere
in
the
U.S.
would
more
than
double
to
$50
billion.
In
early
March,
Merck
announced
the
opening
of
a
$1
billion
vaccine
manufacturing
site
in
Durham,
North
Carolina.
Soon
after,
Johnson
&
Johnson
said
it
would
invest
more
than
$55
billion
in
manufacturing
and
R&D
infrastructure
in
the
U.S.
over
the
next
four
years.
Earlier
this
month,
Novartis
announced
plans
to
spend
$23
billion
to
expand
its
U.S.-based
manufacturing
and
R&D
infrastructure
over
the
next
five
years.
Photo:
Giuseppe
Aresu/Bloomberg,
via
Getty
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