HQ Team
April 22, 2025: Swiss healthcare multinational F. Hoffmann-La Roche AG will invest $50 billion in the US over the next five years to expand its research and manufacturing facilities.
The Basel-headquartered company is set to expand and upgrade its US manufacturing and distribution capabilities for its innovative medicines and diagnostics portfolio in Kentucky, Indiana, New Jersey, Oregon and California, according to a statement.
President Donald Trump has called on pharmaceutical companies to invest more heavily in the United States by threatening to impose significant tariffs on imported pharmaceuticals.
His administration’s strategy aims to incentivise drugmakers to relocate manufacturing and operations back to the US to reduce reliance on foreign suppliers, particularly from countries like China and India, which dominate the supply of generic drugs and active pharmaceutical ingredients.
Weight-loss medicine
Roche will build a state-of-the-art gene therapy manufacturing facility in Pennsylvania and a new 900,000 square foot manufacturing centre to support Roche’s expanding portfolio of next-generation weight loss medicines at a US location, which is yet to be announced.
Investments would also flow into a new manufacturing facility for continuous glucose monitoring in Indiana and a new research and development centre in Massachusetts.
The research centre will conduct “cutting-edge artificial intelligence (AI) research” and serve as a hub for the company’s new cardiovascular, renal and metabolism research and development efforts.
“These investments further strengthen Roche’s already significant US footprint with 13 manufacturing and 15 R&D sites across the Pharmaceutical and Diagnostics Divisions, and are expected to create more than 12,000 new jobs,” according to the statement.
Research centres
There will be a “significant expansion and upgrading” of our existing pharmaceuticals and diagnostics R&D centres in Arizona, Indiana and California.
The company operates worldwide under two divisions: Pharmaceuticals and Diagnostics. Its holding company, Roche Holding AG, has shares listed on the SIX Swiss Exchange.
“Today’s announced investments underscore our long-standing commitment to research, development and manufacturing in the US,” said Thomas Schinecker, Roche Group CEO.
“We are proud of our 110-year legacy in the United States, which has been a key driver for jobs, innovation and the creation of intellectual property in the US, across both our Pharmaceutical and Diagnostics Divisions.
“Our investments of $50 billion over the next five years will lay the foundation for our next era of innovation and growth, benefiting patients in the US and around the world.”
More of medicine exports from US
Once all new and expanded manufacturing capacity comes online, Roche will export more medicines from the US than it imports. Today, its diagnostics division already has an export surplus from the US to other countries, according to the statement.
The US remains the largest and most profitable pharmaceutical market globally, accounting for about 30-40% of the global market and generating around 45% of global pharmaceutical sales5.
Novartis announced plans to invest $23 billion in expanding and building new U.S. facilities, including manufacturing plants in Florida and Texas, and a research centre in San Diego.
Eli Lilly committed $27 billion to new US manufacturing sites, and Johnson & Johnson plans to increase domestic investments by $55 billion over four years. These moves are partly in response to the tariff threats but also reflect a broader push to strengthen US pharmaceutical manufacturing capacity.
