U.S. pharmaceutical manufacturing is entering a new era of rapid investment, with major drugmakers pledging more than $370 billion over the next five years, according to a market trend report from DPR Construction. The company works with many of the industry’s largest manufacturers, including Eli Lilly, Pfizer, Johnson & Johnson, Merck & Co., Novartis and Roche.
“It’s unprecedented,” said Michael Marston, life sciences core market co-leader at DPR. “We’ve never seen anything like that, at least in my career, which is over 35 years.”
And the momentum appears to be continuing. Even as 2025 ended, companies kept announcing new projects at a steady pace — including a new radioligand therapy manufacturing facility planned by Novartis in Winter Park, Florida. That project is part of the company’s broader $23 billion U.S. investment pledge announced in April 2025.
While some investments are spread across the country, Marston said a significant portion is clustering in a handful of geographic hotspots, including long-established pharma centers like Pennsylvania and North Carolina, as well as emerging regions such as Ohio and Texas.
Marston said several factors are influencing where companies choose to build — including government incentives, business climates and workforce pipelines that can support specialized manufacturing operations.
“The cities, municipalities and states, are making it attractive for businesses from a tax perspective and from a local community support perspective to go to those areas,” he said. “For example, in North Carolina, it’s not just tax incentives, but the community themselves. The local education — community colleges and certainly the larger private or public colleges — support the life sciences community where they offer majors and develop workers that can be sustained in these new facilities.”
Those dynamics have helped create established mega-hubs, while also laying the foundation for new markets that may play a larger role in the next wave of domestic drug production.
Below is a closer look at several standout states where major pharma manufacturing investments gained momentum.
North Carolina remains one of the strongest anchors for biopharmaceutical manufacturing in the U.S., supported by the Research Triangle region and its close ties to higher education and research institutions. The state is already home to 108 biopharmaceutical manufacturing facilities, and recent investment pledges could increase that figure.
Novartis broke ground in December on a massive 700,000-square-foot flagship manufacturing hub. Set to open by 2028, the project includes a new Morrisville facility, a new site in Durham, and an expansion of an existing Novartis facility in Durham. The company expects the project will create 700 new jobs in North Carolina by 2030.
Johnson & Johnson has also intensified its footprint in the state. Early in 2025, the company broke ground on a $2 billion manufacturing project in Wilson. Later in the year, J&J struck a $2 billion agreement for manufacturing space at Fujifilm Biotechnologies’ Holly Springs site and also announced plans for an additional multibillion-dollar facility in Wilson.
Another major expansion is underway from Biogen, which plans to invest an additional $2 billion into its existing Research Triangle Park manufacturing footprint.
Texas has rapidly expanded its profile as a life sciences manufacturing destination, supported by a business-friendly environment and a growing network of medical and research institutions.
One of the largest new investments in the state is Eli Lilly’s planned $6.5 billion manufacturing facility in Houston. Lilly expects the project will create 615 high-wage jobs for engineers, scientists, operations personnel and lab technicians, along with 4,000 additional jobs during construction. The facility is expected to manufacture Lilly’s oral GLP-1, which is anticipated to receive approval in March.
Texas’ attractiveness also ties to initiatives such as the Texas Medical Center’s biomanufacturing project, TMC BioPort, aimed at strengthening the region’s life sciences ecosystem.
Other manufacturers have also committed expansion dollars to the state. Novartis has plans for radioligand therapy manufacturing facilities in both Florida and Texas, while AstraZeneca opened an expanded facility in Coppell in October to double production of its high blood potassium treatment, Lokelma.
Pennsylvania continues to rank among the most important U.S. life sciences markets, with Philadelphia serving as a long-established hub and Pittsburgh emerging as an additional center of growth.
The state’s life sciences sector employs about 100,000 workers across nearly 3,100 companies, and it has secured more than 10,700 new life sciences patents over the past five years — all indicators of a market that supports both innovation and manufacturing buildout.
Manufacturing investment remains strong. GSK announced plans in September to build an additional biologics flex factory at Upper Merion, focusing on medicines for respiratory disease and cancer. Construction is planned to start this year as part of a broader $1.2 billion package that includes advanced manufacturing facilities, AI and advanced digital technologies.
Johnson & Johnson also began 2026 by announcing plans for a next-generation cell therapy manufacturing site in Pennsylvania, further reinforcing the state’s role in advanced drug production.
Ohio is becoming increasingly attractive to manufacturers seeking locations with established industrial infrastructure and growing workforce development initiatives. The state is working to strengthen training for biomanufacturing workers and position communities for life sciences expansion.
One major investor is Amgen, which announced in April a $900 million expansion of its Ohio manufacturing facility as part of a $1.4 billion investment plan that the company said has created 750 jobs.
Hikma Pharmaceuticals USA also moved forward with a major Ohio project, breaking ground in June on a pharmaceutical manufacturing and R&D facility in Columbus. The company pledged $1 billion by 2030 to expand U.S. manufacturing and R&D capabilities.
With billions continuing to be pledged and projects being announced at a steady rate, the surge in pharmaceutical manufacturing is reshaping where high-value construction is landing — and which states are emerging as long-term centers of drug production.
While North Carolina and Pennsylvania continue to serve as anchors, the momentum in Texas and Ohio highlights how rapidly new hubs can rise when infrastructure, incentives and workforce programs align.
“It’s unprecedented,” Marston said, underscoring the scale of the investment cycle now unfolding across the U.S.
Originally reported by Alexandra Pecci in Construction Dive.
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