June 15 (Reuters) – Global drugmakers have been bundling U.S. manufacturing and stockpiling as the Trump administration seeks to impose 100% tariffs on brand-name drugs unless companies lower prices or make the drugs domestically.
Although enforcement has been delayed for companies investing in US manufacturing, the policy has already encouraged fast-tracked projects, lower prices and direct sales to consumers.
Pfizer and AstraZeneca secured multi-year tax exemptions through price deals and commitments to the new TrumpRx.gov platform. Eli Lilly, Johnson & Johnson and Merck have pledged billions to expand US operations to avoid fines.
Here’s what drug makers are doing to reduce the risk of drug trafficking and reassure investors:
Pfizer
Pfizer reached an agreement with President Donald Trump on September 30 to invest $70 billion in research and development and domestic production, and received a three-year grace period to exempt its products from targeted drug charges.
GSK
The London-based drugmaker plans to invest $30 billion in US research and supply chain infrastructure over five years.
Eli Lilly
US President Donald Trump said in January that Eli Lilly plans to build six plants in the United States.
Lilly said last year it planned to spend at least 27 billion dollars to build four US plants to increase production and strengthen medical supply chains. The company has announced details of three plants, in Alabama, Virginia and Texas.
Lilly said in January it would build a $3.5 billion pharmaceutical manufacturing facility in Pennsylvania, its fourth new facility, in an effort to expand US manufacturing and strengthen medical supply chains.
Johnson & Johnson
The drugmaker plans to increase US investment by 25%, totaling $55 billion, over the next four years. It plans to build four plants, including one in Wilson, North Carolina, and another at Tokyo-based Fujifilm Biotechnologies’ manufacturing facility in Holly Springs, North Carolina, over the next 10 years.
The company said in June it invested about $1 billion in Jacksonville, Florida, to strengthen US-based manufacturing in its eye care business. The new facility is expected to be fully operational by 2028, J&J said.
Roche
The Swiss drugmaker said in April last year it would invest $50 billion in the US over the next five years.
A month later, it announced an additional investment of $550 million to expand its Indianapolis diagnostic manufacturing hub. The expansion will include Indiana, Pennsylvania, Massachusetts, and California, creating more than 12,000 jobs.
In January, Roche said it would double its investment in its drug manufacturing facility in Holly Springs, North Carolina, to about $2 billion, up from more than $700 million announced in May 2025.
AstraZeneca
The Anglo-Swedish drugmaker will invest 50 billion in production in the US by 2030. The investment will fund a new drug facility in Virginia, its largest single site investment worldwide, and expansions in Maryland, Massachusetts, California, Indiana and Texas.
It has already started technology transfer and is managing the inventory by 2025 to minimize any tax hit. Company executives said the impact “will be very short-term.”
Novartis
The Swiss drugmaker plans to spend $23 billion to build and expand 10 facilities in the US over the next five years. This includes building six new factories and expanding its San Diego research and development facility, which is expected to create more than 1,000 jobs.
Sanofi
The French drug manufacturer plans to invest at least 20 billion dollars in the US until 2030 to increase production and research. Sanofi plans to expand its US manufacturing capacity through direct investment in company sites and partnerships with other domestic manufacturers.
Chief Financial Officer François Roger said in July that the tariffs would likely have a limited impact in 2025, as the company already has inventory in the US.
Biogen
The US drugmaker will invest $2 billion more in its existing manufacturing plants in North Carolina, adding capacity for gene-targeted and automated therapies. The company has seven factories in the state, with an eighth set to begin operations by late 2025.
Merck
The US drugmaker has begun building a $3 billion pharmaceutical manufacturing plant in Virginia as part of its more than $70 billion investment to expand manufacturing and domestic research and development.
It will also invest $1 billion in a new Delaware plant to make the biologics and cancer drug Keytruda, expanding US manufacturing and creating more than 4,500 jobs. It also opened a $1 billion facility at its North Carolina facility in March.
Merck’s animal health division will invest $895 million to expand its Kansas manufacturing and R&D facility, part of a broader investment of $9 billion by 2028.
CEO Robert Davis in July flagged a small impact from potential costs in 2025, and that the company remained in good shape thanks to asset management and the move of manufacturing to the US.
Amgen
The US biopharma firm plans to invest $900 million to expand its manufacturing facility in Ohio, bringing the total investment in the state to $1.4 billion and adding 750 jobs. In December, the company committed $1 billion to build a second facility in Holly Springs, North Carolina.
Amgen said in September it is investing more than $600 million to build a new research and development facility at its headquarters in Thousand Oaks, California.
The drugmaker announced that it will invest $650 million to expand drug production at its facility in Juncos, Puerto Rico, a move that is expected to create nearly 750 jobs.
Amgen said it will invest another $300 million in its US manufacturing network, expand its biologics facility in Puerto Rico and support hundreds of construction jobs.
Novo Nordisk
The Danish pharmaceutical company said in August that its strong US manufacturing facility was positioning it well for tax challenges, describing itself as “very US-oriented and US-centric”.
AbbVie
US drugmaker AbbVie said in January it had committed $100 billion over the next decade to US-based research and development as part of its three-year deal with the Trump administration to lower drug prices.
It has 11 manufacturing sites in the US and said it was “reasonably insulated” from any tax impact this year, given inventory management actions.
The company said in February it plans to invest $380 million to build two manufacturing facilities at its current facility in North Chicago, Illinois, to support the production of its neuroscience and obesity drugs.
Gilead Sciences
Earlier this year, the drugmaker announced $11 billion in new investments planned in the US to add to its domestic production and research, taking the total promised investment to $32 billion.
Gilead said in September it began development of a pharmacy and manufacturing facility at its headquarters in Foster City, California, and is currently developing two other sites.
Cipla
The Indian drugmaker is expanding its US manufacturing footprint by investing in increasing the capacity of complex respiratory products at its development facilities in Fall River, Massachusetts, and Central Islip, New York.
CSL
Australia’s CSL said in November it would invest $1.5 billion in the US to develop plasma-based therapies, expanding its footprint in the country over the next five years.
In March, the company announced an expansion of its plasma therapy manufacturing facility in Kankakee, Illinois, which is expected to be operational by 2031.
(Reporting by Siddhi Mahatole, Kamal Choudhury, Puyaan Singh, Sneha SK, Sahil Pandey and Mariam Sunny in Bengaluru; Editing by Tasim Zahid, Sahal Muhammed, Shinjini Ganguli and Maju Samuel)
