Pharmaceutical companies are expanding their local investments to avoid the pressure of tariffs from U.S. President Donald Trump. Johnson & Johnson (J&J), a U.S. pharmaceutical company, announced on the 21st (local time) that it will lease a contract development and manufacturing organization (CDMO) facility from Japan's Fujifilm Diosynth in North Carolina for $2 billion (2.8 trillion won) over 10 years.
The Fujifilm plant covers 160,000 square feet (14,864 square meters). The company predicts that this lease will create 120 jobs in North Carolina. J&J noted, "We plan to build additional pharmaceutical manufacturing facilities in the U.S.," adding, "We will increase pharmaceutical production to meet patient demands."
The Korea Bio Association said on the same day, "Pharmaceutical companies are showing interest in securing manufacturing facilities in the U.S. due to tariff threats." In fact, there have been a series of investments in production facilities by global pharmaceutical companies recently.
British pharmaceutical company AstraZeneca announced on the 21st of last month that it will invest $50 billion (69 trillion won) in the U.S. by 2030. The company plans to build a new drug manufacturing facility in Virginia and expand research and development (R&D) and cell therapy production in Maryland and Massachusetts. U.S. company Eli Lilly, French company Sanofi, and Swiss company Novartis are also expanding production in the U.S.
In Korea, biosimilar specialist Celltrion announced last month that it will invest 700 billion won to acquire a U.S. biopharmaceutical manufacturing facility. SK Biopharm is also considering production in U.S. territory Puerto Rico. This strategy is in preparation for the U.S. government's tariff policies and aims to stabilize the production and supply of the epilepsy treatment drug Cenobamate.
There are domestic companies that have already secured production facilities in the U.S. Lotte Biologics acquired the Bristol-Myers Squibb (BMS) plant in Syracuse, New York, in 2022. Lotte Biologics aims to expand the antibody-drug conjugate (ADC) facilities at this plant and begin production within the year. CHA Biotech announced plans to construct more factories in the U.S. within 2 to 3 years, following the establishment of a cell and gene therapy (CGT) plant in Texas by its subsidiary, Matika Biotech.