Politics
NEW: European Firm Announces $4.5 Billion U.S. Manufacturing Investment
British-Swedish pharmaceutical giant AstraZeneca broke ground on a new plant in Virginia on Thursday and announced plans to spend $4.5 billion on the facility. The move comes as President Donald Trump has used his tariff strategy to sway firms to manufacture goods in the United States at lower cost.
The project — the largest single manufacturing investment in AstraZeneca’s history — will include one facility focused on drug production for chronic diseases and another dedicated to antibody-drug conjugates, a key component of cancer treatment, the Virginia Mercury reported. The project is expected to create upwards of 3,600 new American jobs.
The pharmaceutical giant said the Virginia plant will manufacture small molecules, peptides and oligonucleotides used in its weight management and metabolic portfolios, including oral GLP-1, baxdrostat and oral PCSK9 products. The second facility will produce antibody-drug conjugates for AstraZeneca’s oncology pipeline.
“With our $4.5 billion investment in Virginia, we are not only building a state-of-the-art manufacturing facility, but also driving life sciences innovation and economic growth,” AstraZeneca Chief Executive Officer Pascal Soriot said in a statement.
“This new facility will create thousands of jobs and strengthen America’s national security and health sovereignty. We have found in Virginia an amazing team that moves at incredible speed to build a better future for this commonwealth and the American people.”
Republican Governor Glenn Youngkin and other Virginia political leaders were on-hand for the official start of the project at the Rivanna Futures Site in northern Albemarle County, which previously received a $9.7 million grant from the Virginia Business Ready Sites Program to prepare infrastructure for large-scale employers.
AstraZeneca said it chose Virginia due to its strong talent pool, proximity to research universities and “pro-business environment.”
Youngkin, who announced the final deal on Thursday, hailed it as a milestone for Virginia’s growing life sciences sector.
“AstraZeneca’s $4.5 billion investment is the largest single manufacturing investment in the company’s history and a game-changer for American drug manufacturing,” Youngkin said. “It took just 33 days from our first conversation to partnering on this project — that’s moving at Virginia speed.”
Once operational, the Albemarle facilities are expected to play a central role in AstraZeneca’s plan to invest $50 billion across the United States by 2030, the Virginia Mercury reported.
