AstraZeneca to invest $2 billion as part of US manufacturing push

(Reuters) -AstraZeneca said on Friday it will invest $2 billion to expand its manufacturing footprint in Maryland as part of its previously announced ​$50 billion plan to expand manufacturing and research capabilities in the U.S. ‌by 2030.

Global pharmaceutical companies have been ramping up investments in the United States to expand production capacity, following ‌President Donald Trump’s call for the industry to make more medicines domestically instead of importing active ingredients or finished products.

The Anglo-Swedish drugmaker’s $2 billion investment will help expand its biologics manufacturing facility in Frederick and construct a new state-of-the-art facility in Gaithersburg for ⁠the development and clinical supply of ‌drugs to be used in trials.

This investment marks the fourth in AstraZeneca’s larger expansion plan, and will support 2,600 jobs across ‍the two sites in Maryland, including the creation of 300 highly skilled jobs.

CEO Pascal Soriot has looked to balance Trump’s demands on the sector with a full listing of its shares on ​the New York Stock Exchange, as well as a deal to lower drug prices ‌for millions of Americans.

AstraZeneca’s Frederick facility currently produces biologics, a class of medications that come from living organisms and include a wide range of products such as vaccines and other therapies. These are used across AstraZeneca’s portfolio of cancer, autoimmune, respiratory and rare disease treatments.

The planned expansion will nearly double commercial manufacturing capacity, allowing increased supply ⁠of existing medicines and, for the first time,​ production across the company’s rare disease portfolio,​ AstraZeneca said, adding that it will create 200 highly skilled jobs and 900 construction roles.

Its new clinical manufacturing facility in Gaithersburg, which will ‍be fully operational by ⁠2029, will create an additional 100 jobs, retain 400 roles and support a further 1,000 construction-related jobs.

The drugmaker’s previous announcements included a new ⁠cell therapy manufacturing facility in Rockville, Maryland, a new drug substance manufacturing facility in Virginia and the ‌expansion of its existing manufacturing facility in Coppell, Texas.

(Reporting by Sriparna ‌Roy in Bengaluru; Editing by Alan Barona)