Indian pharma juggernaut Lupin—best known in the U.S. for its portfolio of generic drugs—is laying down new manufacturing roots in Florida.
Lupin expects to invest a combined $250 million—covering R&D, infrastructure and capital expenditures over five years—to build a new pharmaceutical production plant in Coral Springs, Florida, the company said in an Oct. 8 press release. Lupin’s U.S. headquarters is in Naples, Florida, a little more than 100 miles west of Coral Springs.
The new site, which will create more than 200 jobs in the area by 2030, is slated to manufacture at least 25 respiratory medicines, including albuterol inhalers for asthma, Lupin said. The company specified that it would produce those inhalers for pediatric use as well as for “service members at home and overseas.”
Firm details on the plant were limited in Lupin’s release, although the company noted that it has acquired more than five acres of land to construct the planned 70,000-square-foot site. As part of its commitment to the state, Lupin said it has received tax credits and incentives from Florida to help fuel the production project.
The plant is expected to strengthen Lupin’s U.S. supply chain and ensure reliable access to respiratory drugs, from “routine pediatric care to pandemic-scale demand,” according to the company.
“The expansion of Lupin’s footprint in Coral Springs is a core part of our growth strategy,” Christoph Funke, chief technical operations officer at Lupin, said in a statement. “This new state-of-the-art facility will build on our existing presence in Florida, which is home to Lupin’s headquarters and our Advanced Inhalation Research Center.”
Aside from its existing Florida operations, Lupin currently runs another U.S. manufacturing facility in Somerset, New Jersey. The site cranks out tablets and capsules as well as liquid oral dosage forms, Lupin notes on its website.
With a global workforce of more than 24,000 employees, the drugmaker operates 15 manufacturing sites and seven research centers worldwide.
Lupin’s Florida project comes amid a spate of U.S. biopharma investments, which have primarily been driven by the threat of pharmaceutical tariffs under the Trump administration.
That said, import duties on pharmaceuticals may not have been a major driver in Lupin’s decision to expand its U.S. manufacturing footprint.
The final, 100% tariff rate on drug imports President Donald Trump unveiled in a Truth Social post in late September is specifically focused on “branded or patented” pharmaceuticals, according to the social media announcement.
Meanwhile, separate trade deals that the U.S. has struck with the EU and Japan also exempt generic medicines to a large extent.
Wednesday, White House spokesperson Kush Desai seemed to confirm that generic tariffs were off the table, telling The Wall Street Journal that the “administration is not actively discussing imposing Section 232 tariffs against generic pharmaceuticals.”
Desai was referring to the Section 232 investigation the administration launched earlier this year—culminating in the 100% pharmaceutical tariff rate—that explored the national security implications of drug imports to the U.S.
The administration’s push to encourage domestic drug production seems to have worked on many pharmaceutical outfits, including several of Lupin’s generic and biosimilar peers.
In June, generics maker Hikma Pharmaceuticals said it would throw down $1 billion by 2030 to expand its manufacturing and R&D footprint in the U.S., targeting its sites in Columbus and Cleveland in Ohio as well as Cherry Hill and Dayton in New Jersey.
Roughly two months later, Indian generics compatriot Aurobindo got in on the action, paying $250 million to acquire Pennsylvania’s Lannett and its 425,000-square-foot production plant in Seymour, Indiana, which is equipped to manufacture tablets, capsules, powders and liquids.
Korean biosimilars specialist Celltrion recently boosted its U.S. footprint, too, paying about $330 million to pick up an Eli Lilly drug substance plant in New Jersey, where it has pledged to retain all employees and kick off its own operations “immediately.”