Novartis plans to build seven new facilities in the U.S., touting the creation of up to 1,000 new jobs at the company. The new facilities will include a biomedical research hub in California, two radioligand plants, and four manufacturing sites.
Novartis unveiled a $23 billion package Thursday to expand its R&D and manufacturing in the U.S., joining the growing list of Big Pharma players that have pledged multibillion-dollar commitments in the country amid President Donald Trump’s mounting tariff threats.
Novartis’ investment, which will be disbursed over the next five years, will go toward the construction of a biomedical research innovation hub in California and two radioligand manufacturing plants in Florida and Texas. The pharma also plans to build four new manufacturing facilities, three of which will focus on biologics, drug products, device assembly and packaging. The locations for these production sites have yet to be determined.
All told, Novartis is looking to open seven new facilities in the U.S., which it says will create some 1,000 new jobs at the company itself and around 4,000 additional jobs in the country. Between November 2024 and March 2025, Novartis laid off approximately 600 employees in various waves and site closures.
“The US is a priority market for Novartis,” according to the pharma. “With these investments, Novartis will have manufacturing capacity in the US for all its core technology platforms.”
Novartis’ announcement on Thursday comes shortly after Trump’s ‘Liberation Day’ tariffs, which applied 10% additional duties on all imported goods, plus specific reciprocal tariffs on several countries with which the U.S. has the largest trade deficits. Trump has since announced a 90-day suspension for reciprocal tariffs, except for China, which is now subject to levies of 145%.
Trump on several occasions has singled out the pharma industry in his threats. In February, he told several pharma executives—including Pfizer CEO Albert Bourla, Lilly CEO David Ricks and Merck CEO Robert Davis—that he would slap added duties on their products if they didn’t reshore their manufacturing operations.
Earlier this week, Trump doubled down on his sector-specific tariff plans, announcing that “major” levies on pharma products are coming “very shortly.”
In a Wednesday note reacting to the pharma tariffs, analysts at BMO Capital Markets took a stand: “We [are] strongly opposed to tariffs on any pharmaceuticals,” they wrote. These additional duties, they argued “will likely do little to shift manufacturing back to the US, as we already have robust biomanufacturing and fill finish onshore.”
Still, several Big Pharma companies have unveiled hefty U.S. packages. Lilly in February announced a $27 billion boost to its manufacturing operations in the country, followed by a $55 billion commitment from J&J last month.
