While the United Kingdom feted President Trump in his second state visit, GSK said Wednesday it will spend $30 billion over the next five years to build new manufacturing and research facilities across its footprint in the U.S., its largest market by revenue.
The planned investment makes London-based GSK the latest big pharmaceutical company to announce infrastructure plans in the U.S. amounting to billions or even tens of billions of dollars. GSK said its planned investments build on the company’s “strong innovation and manufacturing footprint and capabilities in the United States today, developing and making products in the United States for the United States.”
Trump has repeatedly stated that big pharmaceutical companies should make more of their medicines and active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs) in the U.S., and he has pursued policies with that goal in mind. A Department of Commerce inquiry is ongoing that could support the imposition of tariffs on pharmaceutical products manufactured overseas. Last month, Trump issued an executive order directing the Department of Health and Human Services to identify critical drugs and stockpile APIs for these medicines in an effort to reduce reliance on foreign production of these key ingredients.
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GSK’s planned U.S. investment includes $1.2 billion budgeted for construction of a new “flex” factory, a next-generation facility that will use artificial intelligence and advanced technologies to manufacture new biologic medicines. GSK said this suburban Philadelphia site will produce new medicines for respiratory diseases and cancer. The company plans to begin construction next year.
The pharma giant’s plans include implementation of new artificial intelligence and advanced digital technology capabilities across five existing manufacturing sites in Pennsylvania, North Carolina, Maryland, and Montana. GSK also plans new drug substance manufacturing capabilities and new and enhanced capabilities and assembly for devices and auto-injectors.
Beyond its new commitments to its U.S. supply chain, GSK said its investment will also span drug discovery and development as well as clinical trials. GSK said it expects the U.S. will rank first among the number of studies, sites, and clinical trial participants conducted by the company over the next five years. The company said its current U.S. workforce is about 15,000, and the new investments will create “hundreds of highly skilled jobs” in addition to construction jobs. In a prepared statement regarding Trump’s state visit and the capital expenditure announcement, GSK CEO Emma Walmsley commented about the shared interests of the U.S. and the U.K. in advancing the life sciences.
“This week’s state visit brings together two countries that have led the world in science and healthcare innovation,” she said. “We are proud to be part of both. Here in the U.K., we continue to invest in a significant manufacturing base and more than £1.5 billion in R&D every year. Today, we are committing to invest at least $30 billion in the United States over the next five years, further bolstering the already strong R&D and supply chain we have in the country.”
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It’s unclear whether the planned new U.S. investment will come at the expense of capital expenditures in GSK’s home country. But the announcement comes as some of GSK’s peers have pared back their investment plans in the U.K. Last week, Merck canceled plans for a new London research center, according to the BBC. AstraZeneca last week paused plans for a £200 million (about $271.2 million) investment in a research site in Cambridge, U.K., where it is headquartered, Reuters reported. That move followed abandoned plans earlier this year for a vaccine manufacturing plant in northern England.
Meanwhile, big pharma companies are continuing to roll out new infrastructure announcements for the U.S. On Tuesday, Eli Lilly announced plans for a new $5 billion API-production facility outside of Richmond, Virginia.
Photo by GSK