Pharmaceutical company Novartis announced plans to build seven facilities in the United States and expand others in a $23 billion investment over five years on the heels of President Donald Trump’s announcement of forthcoming tariffs on imported drugs.
The Swiss company revealed the major investment in a press release.
“This commitment enables Novartis to expand on its current manufacturing, research and technology presence across the country with 10 facilities, including 7 brand new facilities, creating nearly 1,000 new jobs at Novartis and approximately 4,000 additional US jobs,” the release said.
Six of the facilities will be manufacturing plants, two of which will focus on radioligand therapy in Florida and Texas. It remains to be seen where the other four plants will be built.
Moreover, the company is establishing a biomedical research innovation center in San Diego as part of the investment, and it is expanding three of its production facilities in Indiana, New Jersey, and California.
The company also noted that its goal is to ensure “all key Novartis medicines for US patients will be made in the United States.”
On Tuesday, Trump notably pledged to impose tariffs on drugs produced in other countries.
“So we’re going to be announcing, very shortly, a major tariff on pharmaceuticals,” Trump said Tuesday night at a National Republican Congressional Committee (NRCC) dinner. “And…when they hear that, they will leave China, they will leave other places, because… most of their product is sold here.”
“And they’re going to be opening up their plants all over the place in our country,” he added.
Trump doubled down on his statement on Wednesday.
“We realized during COVID that we don’t make our drugs or our pharmaceuticals in this country,” Trump told reporters.
However, Novartis CEO Vas Narasimhan denied that potential tariffs are the primary influence behind the move, per Reuters.
“We believe we can manage the tariffs – though of course they will be very painful – so while that is a factor (behind this investment), it’s not the driving factor,” Narasimhan said.
This is the latest in an influx of investments into the United States since Trump returned to office and began warning of and imposing his tariff policies. Stargate, a joint project between OpenAI, Oracle, and SoftBank, has pledged a $500 billion investment in America, and Apple announced it is investing $500 billion in America, which are just a few of the other examples.
