When it came to deciding where to build a new manufacturing facility for its ambitious metabolic drug program, Roche undertook a thorough search that included 12 high-tech clusters in the U.S. and “multiple properties in each,” according to the Swiss company’s High Volume Portfolio Lead Paul Bezy.
After all that, Roche settled on a familiar pharma manufacturing location: Holly Springs, North Carolina. In setting up shop there, the drugmaker will be joining a growing legion of pharma companies—including Amgen, CSL Seqirus, Fujifilm, Johnson & Johnson and Regeneron—that are establishing a presence in the suburban town southwest of Raleigh.
“They run the government like it’s a business, from an efficiency and a speed standpoint,” Bezy said in an interview this week. “They understand what pharma companies need, and they seem to be specifically targeting this industry to create the right ecosystem, the right support system, for what it takes to bring a high-tech pharmaceutical facility online.”
Monday, Roche’s U.S. subsidiary Genentech broke ground on the $700 million plant, which is tabbed for operation in 2029. It is part of Roche’s plan to invest $50 billion in the U.S. over the next five years to support its manufacturing and R&D operations.
The company unveiled its move to North Carolina in May. It will become the first production facility in the eastern U.S. for South San Francisco-based Genentech. It will create more than 400 manufacturing jobs, with another 1,500 workers participating in the construction of the complex. Sitting on a 100-acre property, Genentech will be able to expand the facility if needed.
Roche began considering the possibility of building a new manufacturing site after it acquired Carmot Therapeutics and its portfolio of obesity candidates for $2.7 million in December 2023. The Holly Springs facility will perform fill-finish duties for injected drugs.
“We’re a latecomer into this therapeutic area. It’s not a mystery,” Bezy said. “We’re coming in as a strong challenger. We’re in it to win it.”
The groundbreaking comes as several pharma giants rush to increase their ability to manufacture products in the U.S. in response to President Donald Trump’s effort to impose import tariffs on foreign-made medicines.
Last week, the industry gained more clarity with the confirmation of a 15% tariff on EU-made innovative drugs. Among the pharma giants that have revealed massive investment plans in the U.S. are AstraZeneca, Eli Lilly, Sanofi and Novartis.
Roche’s other U.S. projects include a $550 million facility under construction on its diagnostics campus in Indianapolis that will produce glucose monitoring devices.
The company currently operates 13 manufacturing and 15 R&D sites in the U.S. Its primary plants in the U.S. are in Oceanside, California (drug substance), and Hillsboro, Oregon (fill-finish). After several layoffs, its manufacturing operations in South San Francisco now only include clinical products.