After joining multiple other drugmakers on the U.S. investment bandwagon earlier this year, Gilead Sciences is providing further details on where it plans to channel its $32 billion pledge.
Gilead has broken ground on a new pharmaceutical development and manufacturing hub at its headquarters in Foster City, California, the company said Tuesday.
The new facility, which will reach five stories and cover 180,000 square feet, will serve the company’s technical development and manufacturing teams, leveraging a mix of digitalization, autonomous robotics and real-time digital monitoring. Additionally, the project is expected to boost Gilead’s capabilities and capacity around biologics, which the company described as a “central pillar” of its broader growth strategy.
The company said it will utilize flexible pilot lab space, digital infrastructure and accelerated technology transfers at the site to “support the advancement of next-generation biologics across Gilead’s pipeline.”
When all is said and done, Gilead expects the facility to stand out as “one of the most AI-enabled centers in the biopharma industry.”
Gilead did not say how much it’s investing directly into the hub—which has been christened the Pharmaceutical Development and Manufacturing Technical Development Center—though CEO Daniel O’Day called the project the cornerstone of the company’s planned $32 billion investment in the U.S. through 2030.
“We have multiple construction projects underway, all of which will generate thousands of American jobs and help to drive U.S. leadership in global biopharma innovation,” O’Day said in a Sept. 3 press release.
Gilead had already earmarked $21 billion to enhance its U.S. operations through the end of the decade when it unveiled an investment of $11 billion more in May. The announcement was one of many made by large drugmakers seeking to counter the effects of potential U.S. pharmaceutical import tariffs under the Trump administration.
Of that new sum, Gilead said $5 billion would go toward technology, operations and R&D site activities, while another $4 billion had been set aside for capital projects including labs and equipment. The company said it would funnel the remaining $2 billion from its new commitment into “digital and advanced engineering initiatives,” according to a press release issued earlier this year.
The entire $32 billion plot will be used to support the building of three new, state-of-the-art facilities, to upgrade three existing sites to expand U.S. manufacturing and R&D capabilities and to invest in new technology and advanced engineering initiatives, Gilead noted at the time.
Overall, Gilead has said it expects its expansion efforts to generate roughly 800 new jobs at the company by 2028 as well as some 2,200 indirect roles involved in getting the projects up and running.
Meanwhile, the new development and manufacturing hub isn’t the only expansion underway at Gilead’s Foster City home base. The company is also developing a new research building there and has already started construction on the project, Gilead said Tuesday. Plans are also in place to erect a new dedicated biologics manufacturing facility at the West Coast campus.
Aside from Gilead, many other drugmakers have drafted major financial commitments in the U.S. this year as concerns around potential pharmaceutical import duties roil.
Some of the largest investment pledges have come from Eli Lilly, Johnson & Johnson, Roche and AstraZeneca, with J&J topping that list at a $55 billion commitment. AZ and Roche have both pledged $50 billion to soup up their U.S. operations, while Eli Lilly has earmarked $27 billion.