AstraZeneca is reversing a history of outsourcing its production of pharmaceutical chemicals with a plan to expand manufacturing capacity in the US. It is also the latest big drug company to announce expansion of its footprint in the US.AstraZeneca’s CEO, Pascal Soriot, announced plans earlier this week to invest $50 billion in the US by 2030 to build new manufacturing units and expand existing ones. They include a project to develop a pharmaceutical chemical facility in Virginia. The plant will be the company’s largest single manufacturing investment ever, according to an AstraZeneca press release.The new facility will produce small molecules, peptides, and oligonucleotides for drug candidates the firm is developing for weight management and metabolic disorders. “The facility will leverage AI, automation, and data analytics to optimize production,” the press release says.The investments also include an expansion of AstraZeneca’s R&D facility in Gaithersburg, Maryland; a new R&D center in Cambridge, Massachusetts; and cell therapy manufacturing facilities in Rockville, Maryland, and Tarzana, California.
For the record, this is great potential news for American chemists.
I really like how the article quotes perennial C&EN favorite James Bruno, who is skeptical how many of these many facilities will be built. For the record, I think he is right and the likelihood that all of these many facilities will be built is well below 50%. We shall see...
Wonder how many are taking over projects that got paused by other companies, or purchasing current facilities in an asset swap scenario.
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