GSK plans to spend $30B over the next 5 years on U.S. manufacturing and R&D infrastructure
In his second visit, Gsk said the UK said in his second state visit that it would spend $30 billion over the next five years to build new manufacturing and research facilities in its footprint in the U.S., its largest revenue market.
The planned investments have made London's GSK the latest big pharmaceutical company, announcing U.S. infrastructure plans, totaling billions or even hundreds of millions of dollars. GSK said its planned investment is built on the company’s “strong footprint and capability of innovation and manufacturing in the United States today to develop and produce products in the United States.”
Trump has repeatedly said that big pharma companies should make more drugs in the United States, and he has kept that goal in mind. The ongoing Ministry of Commerce investigation could support tariff imposition on pharmaceutical products produced overseas. Last month, Trump issued an executive order directing the Department of Health and Human Services to identify key medicines and inventory APIs for these drugs to reduce reliance on foreign production of these key ingredients.
GSK's planned U.S. investment includes a $1.2 billion budget to build a new “Flex” factory, a next-generation factory that will use artificial intelligence and advanced technologies to produce new biological drugs. GSK said this Philadelphia suburb will produce new respiratory illness and cancer drugs. The company plans to start construction next year.
The pharmaceutical giant's plan includes implementing new artificial intelligence and advanced digital technology capabilities at its existing five manufacturing locations in Pennsylvania, North Carolina, Maryland and Montana. GSK also plans new drug manufacturing capabilities, as well as new features and enhancements to the equipment and automatic syringe as well as assembly.
GSK said its investment will cover drug discovery and development as well as clinical trials, in addition to its new commitment to the U.S. supply chain. GSK said it expects the U.S. to rank first among participants in research, site and clinical trials conducted by the company over the next five years. The company said its current U.S. workforce is about 15,000, and new investments will create “hundreds of highly skilled jobs” in addition to construction jobs. GSK CEO Emma Walmsley commented on the common interests of the United States and the United Kingdom in advancing life sciences in a prepared statement on Trump’s state visit and capital expenditure announcement.
“This week’s Congress visit brings together two countries that are ahead of the world of scientific and medical innovation,” she said. “We are honored to be part of both. In the UK, we will continue to invest in major manufacturing bases each year, with over £1.5 billion in R&D annually. Today, we are committed to investing at least $30 billion in the U.S. over the next five years, further strengthening the already strong R&D R&D and supply chains where we have our country.”
It is not clear whether the planned new investment will come at the cost of capital expenditures from Gsk's home country. But the announcement comes as some of GSK's peers cut their investment plans in the UK last week and Merck canceled plans for a new research centre in London, according to the BBC. AstraZeneca suspended its £200 million (about $271.2 million) investment planned to be made in a research site in Cambridge, UK last week, Reuters reported. The move comes after abandoning plans to a vaccine manufacturer in northern England earlier this year.
Meanwhile, big pharmaceutical companies will continue to release new infrastructure announcements for the U.S. on Tuesday, with Eli Lilly announcing plans to provide plans for a new $5 billion API-Production facility outside Richmond, Virginia.
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