AstraZeneca Joins Pharma Investment Push in U.S. Amid Tariff Threat
Pascal Soriot, the chief executive of AstraZeneca, announced the plans on Monday in Washington while seated next to Kevin Hassett, the director of the U.S. National Economic Council, and Glenn Youngkin, the governor of Virginia, where the company will direct a major plank of the investment.
The plans '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,' Mr. Soriot said.
The investment will go to projects like building a manufacturing plant in Virginia to make drug substances, including for the company's weight loss drugs. The plant in Virginia will be AstraZeneca's largest single manufacturing investment in its 26-year history, the company said. The money will also go toward plants in California, Indiana, Maryland and Texas, as well as expanding research and development facilities in Maryland and Massachusetts.
'For decades, Americans have been reliant on foreign supply of key pharmaceutical products,' Howard Lutnick, the U.S. commerce secretary, said in a statement as part of the AstraZeneca announcement. 'President Trump and our nation's new tariff policies are focused on ending this structural weakness.'
This year, some of the world's largest pharmaceutical companies have announced billions in investments in the United States. Roche, the Swiss company, said in April it would put $50 billion into research and development centers and manufacturing sites. Novartis, another Swiss firm, said it would invest $23 billion over the next five years. American companies including Johnson & Johnson, Eli Lilly and AbbVie have also announced major investments.
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