AstraZeneca furthers US manufacturing commitment with $2bn Maryland investment
Posted: 24 November 2025 | Catherine Eckford (European Pharmaceutical Review) | No comments yet
The move is part of biopharma’s $50 billion pledge to US medicines manufacturing and R&D.
Credit: Roland Magnusson / Shutterstock.com
AstraZeneca is channeling $2 billion into its manufacturing capabilities in Maryland, US, representing its fourth major investment in the country so far this year.
This commitment is part of the company’s pledge announced in July, to funnel $50 billion into US medicines manufacturing and R&D.
This has so far resulted in a new cell therapy manufacturing facility in Rockville, Maryland, a new $4.5 billion drug substance manufacturing facility in Virginia, and expansion of AstraZeneca’s existing facility in Coppell, Texas. This latter investment involved upgrading the site’s drug substance and drug product laboratory testing and enhancing its warehousing space.
[AstraZeneca’s $2 billion investment] strengthens the resilience of the US medicines supply chain and accelerates access to transformative therapies for patients across America and around the world”
The current investment will expand AstraZeneca’s flagship biologics manufacturing facility in Frederick, nearly doubling the existing commercial manufacturing capacity for cancer, autoimmune, respiratory and rare disease medicines. The move will create 200 highly skilled jobs, with the facility expected to be operational in 2029.
It also supports creation of a new facility in Gaithersburg intended for development and supply innovative molecules for clinical trials. This will create 300 skilled pharma jobs, according to AstraZeneca.
Both manufacturing facilities in Frederick and Gaithersburg will feature advanced technology: artificial intelligence (AI), automation and data analytics.
Onshoring medicine manufacturing to the US
Pascal Soriot, Chief Executive Officer, AstraZeneca, explained that its $2 billion investment onshores the company’s rare disease portfolio to the US for the first time, which “strengthens the resilience of the US medicines supply chain and accelerates access to transformative therapies for patients across America and around the world.”
This news follows the biopharma company’s acquisition of the obesity-focused Swiss biotech SixPeaks Bio earlier this month, following an $80 million deal agreed in 2024. It is set to focus on advancing bispecific antibody candidate SPX-001 that targets activin type IIA and B receptors.
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