Amid the threat of pharmaceutical tariffs from President Donald Trump, recent months have seen multibillion-dollar U.S. spending pledges from some of the world's largest pharmaceutical companies. Now, Belgium's UCB is adding its name to the mix of drugmakers planning to grow in the U.S.
In a press release Thursday, UCB revealed a plan to establish a "new, state-of-the-art biologics manufacturing facility in the United States."
The company hasn't settled on the exact location, but it says the site will create 300 high-skilled jobs once complete.
UCB didn't give a precise investment figure for the project, only stating that the expansion is expected to generate a total estimated economic impact of approximately $5 billion.
The future biologics manufacturing site will serve several of UCB's goals. For one, the site "brings us closer to one of our fastest-growing markets," the company noted in its release. Further, the site is slated to bolster the company's overall supply chain sustainability and resilience.
“This investment reflects our growing impact in the US and our ambition to bring our forthcoming pipeline to patients around the world," UCB CEO Jean-Christophe Tellier said in a statement. "By expanding our biologics manufacturing footprint, we’re not only reinforcing our global supply chain—we’re also contributing to the vitality of biomedical innovation, high-skilled jobs, and long-term economic impact in the US.”
As UCB works to decide the best location for the plant, the company said it's focusing on "regions that offer strong talent pipelines and innovation ecosystems."
Aside from the internal manufacturing outlay, UCB is continuing to scale up contract manufacturing partnerships to support its growth drivers, the company said.
UCB has been on a speedy growth clip lately, posting a 19% revenue increase last year to 6.15 billion euros. After the result, Tellier remarked that UCB was on course to deliver a "decade-plus" of growth.
That revenue increase came alongside several notable FDA approvals and label expansions in recent years, including several for its potential blockbuster Bimzelx.
In pledging to grow its U.S. footprint, UCB noted that it's already expanded its U.S. head count by 73% since 2017. The company currently employs roughly 2,000 people in the U.S.
Industrywide, there's been a push to grow U.S. manufacturing operations under the current government administration. Trump officials have threatened to impose tariffs on foreign-made pharmaceuticals, spurring a wave of high-profile investment pledges in recent months.
Among companies that have promised to grow their U.S. operations, the commitments between Johnson & Johnson, Roche, Eli Lilly and Novartis tallied up to more than $150 billion.