Jan 13 (Reuters) - Global drugmakers are ramping up U.S. manufacturing and stockpiling inventory as the Trump administration considers imposing a 100% tariff on imported branded and patented medicines.
Although enforcement is delayed for companies investing in U.S. manufacturing, the policy has already prompted fast-tracked projects, price cuts and direct-to-consumer sales.
Pfizer and AstraZeneca secured multi-year tariff exemptions through pricing deals and commitments to the new TrumpRx.gov platform. Eli Lilly, Johnson & Johnson and Merck have pledged billions to expand U.S. operations to avoid penalties.
Here's what drugmakers are doing to mitigate supply-chain risks and reassure investors:
Pfizer
Pfizer reached a deal with President Donald Trump on September 30 to invest $70 billion in research and development and domestic manufacturing, and received a three-year grace period exempting its products from the pharmaceutical-targeted tariffs.
GSK
The London-based drugmaker plans to invest $30 billion in U.S. research and development and supply chain infrastructure over five years.
Eli Lilly
The U.S. drugmaker said in September it will invest $5 billion to build a manufacturing facility in Virginia. The facility is the first of four new U.S. plants planned under its $27 billion expansion over the next five years.
Johnson & Johnson
The drugmaker plans to raise U.S. investments by 25%, totaling $55 billion, over the next four years. It plans to build four plants, including one at Wilson, North Carolina, and another at Tokyo-based Fujifilm Biotechnologies' manufacturing site in Holly Springs, North Carolina, over the next 10 years.
Locations for the other plants remain undisclosed.
Roche
The Swiss drugmaker said in April it will invest $50 billion in the U.S. over the next five years.
A month later, it announced an additional $550 million investment to expand its Indianapolis diagnostics manufacturing hub. The expansion will span Indiana, Pennsylvania, Massachusetts, and California, creating more than 12,000 jobs.
Roche said in May it plans to invest more than $700 million in a new drug manufacturing facility in Holly Springs, North Carolina.
CEO Thomas Schinecker said in July the company had moved around inventories and ramped up production of all the medicines that it already produced in the U.S. in anticipation of tariffs.
AstraZeneca
The Anglo-Swedish drugmaker will invest $50 billion on U.S. manufacturing by 2030. The investment will fund a new drug substance facility in Virginia, its largest single-site global investment, alongside expansions in Maryland, Massachusetts, California, Indiana and Texas.
It has already started technology transfers and is managing inventory in 2025 to minimize any tariff hit. Company executives have said the impact would be "very short-lived."
Novartis
The Swiss drugmaker plans to spend $23 billion to build and expand 10 facilities in the U.S. over the next five years. This includes building six new manufacturing plants and expanding its San Diego research and development site, which is expected to create more than 1,000 jobs.
Sanofi
The French drugmaker plans to invest at least $20 billion in the U.S. through 2030 to boost manufacturing and research. Sanofi plans to expand its U.S. manufacturing capacity through direct investments in the company's sites and partnerships with other domestic manufacturers.
Chief Financial Officer François Roger said in July the potential tariffs are expected to have a limited impact in 2025, as the company already has inventory in place in the U.S.
Biogen
The U.S. drugmaker will invest $2 billion more in its existing manufacturing plants in North Carolina, adding capacity for gene-targeting therapies and automation. The company has seven factories in the state, with an eighth set to begin operations in late 2025.
Merck
The U.S. drugmaker has begun building a $3 billion pharmaceutical manufacturing plant in Virginia as part of its over $70 billion investment to expand domestic manufacturing and research and development in the United States.
It will also invest $1 billion in a new Delaware plant to make biologics and Keytruda, to boost U.S. production and potentially create over 4,500 jobs. It also opened a $1-billion facility at its North Carolina site in March.
Merck's animal health unit will invest $895 million to expand its Kansas manufacturing and R&D site, part of a broader $9 billion U.S. investment through 2028.
CEO Robert Davis in July flagged minimal impact from potential tariffs in 2025, and that the company remained well-positioned due to inventory management and moving of manufacturing to the U.S.
Amgen
The U.S.-based biopharma firm plans to invest $900 million to expand its Ohio manufacturing facility, bringing 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 center at its headquarters in Thousand Oaks, California.
The drugmaker announced it will invest $650 million to expand drug manufacturing at its facility in Juncos, Puerto Rico, a move expected to create nearly 750 jobs.
Novo Nordisk
The Danish pharmaceutical company said in August its strong U.S. manufacturing footprint positions it well for tariff challenges, describing itself as "very U.S.-centric and U.S.-focused".
AbbVie
U.S. drugmaker AbbVie has committed $100 billion over the next decade to U.S.-based research and development, expanding direct-to-patient access through TrumpRx for widely prescribed medications including Alphagan, Combigan, Humira, and Synthroid
In exchange, AbbVie will receive exemptions from tariffs and future pricing mandates, though additional terms of the agreement with the Trump's administration remain confidential.
Before this, AbbVie confirmed plans to continue investing in its previously announced $10 billion expansion in the country over the next decade.
It already has 11 manufacturing sites in the U.S. and has said it is "fairly insulated" from any tariff impact this year given inventory management actions.
Gilead Sciences
Earlier this year, the drugmaker announced $11 billion in new planned investment in the U.S. to add to its domestic manufacturing and research heft, taking its total pledged investment to $32 billion.
Gilead said in September that it started work on a pharmaceutical development and manufacturing hub at its headquarters in Foster City, California, in addition to which, it is currently developing two other sites.
Cipla
The Indian drugmaker is expanding its U.S. manufacturing footprint by investing in capacity expansion for complex respiratory products at its advanced facilities in Fall River, Massachusetts, and Central Islip, Long Island, New York.
CSL
Australia's CSL said it would invest $1.5 billion in the U.S. to manufacture plasma-derived therapies, expanding its footprint in the North American country over the next five years.
(Reporting by Siddhi Mahatole, Kamal Choudhury, Puyaan Singh and Sneha S K in Bengaluru; Editing by Devika Syamnath, Leroy Leo, Vijay Kishore, Sahal Muhammed, Maju Samuel and Tasim Zahid)
