Novartis Launches $23 Billion North Carolina Manufacturing Hub

Novartis plans to expand its operations in North Carolina, creating a new flagship manufacturing hub with end-to-end manufacturing capabilities. 

This announcement is part of Novartis’ $23 billion investment in US-based infrastructure over the next five years, designed to increase manufacturing capacity and enable 100% of the company's key medicines to be produced end-to-end in the US.

As part of this flagship hub in North Carolina, Novartis will:

• Build a new site in Durham with the construction of two new facilities dedicated to manufacturing biologics and sterile packaging
• Build a new site in Morrisville with one facility for the production of solid dosage tablets and capsules, including packaging
• Expand the scope of its existing Durham facility with the added capability to support sterile filling of biologics into syringes and vials

The company is on track to produce all its advanced technologies in the US with:

• Cell and gene therapies manufactured in Morris Plains, NJ, and Durham, NC
• Radioligand therapies manufactured coast-to-coast at facilities in Millburn, NJ, Indianapolis, IN, and Carlsbad, CA, and two new sites planned in Florida and Texas
• xRNA therapies to be manufactured at a new facility whose location will be announced in the coming months

Currently, Novartis produces gene therapies in Durham, North Carolina. Together, the new and existing facilities will create a single hub, expanding capabilities to produce medicines across the company’s main therapeutic areas: oncology, immunology, neuroscience, and cardiovascular, renal, and metabolic. The proximity of the facilities will allow teams and production processes to work in tandem – from manufacturing active ingredients to final packaging – and create efficiencies in its manufacturing.

“This announcement is a commitment to American innovation and to the patients we serve,” said Vas Narasimhan, CEO of Novartis. “By building a full, end-to-end manufacturing presence in North Carolina for our broader portfolio, we are expanding our capacity to deliver medical breakthroughs, securing a more resilient US supply chain, and investing in the local communities that make our mission possible.” 

Anticipated to open in 2027-2028, the flagship manufacturing hub, encompassing more than 700,000 square feet between the existing campus and new facilities, is expected to create 700 new jobs at Novartis and more than 3,000 indirect jobs across the supply chain by the end of 2030.