The prospect of a U.S. policy that could levy 100% tariffs on branded drugs unless manufacturers either cut prices or make products domestically has pushed global pharmaceutical firms to move quickly on capacity and inventory strategies.
Although enforcement of the tariff threat has been paused for companies that are investing in U.S. manufacturing, that pause has not slowed immediate responses: firms have fast-tracked projects, rolled out price reductions and in some cases shifted more sales directly to consumers. Several large firms have also negotiated agreements that secure multi-year exemptions from the proposed levies.
Below is a company-by-company account of actions firms have taken to mitigate supply chain vulnerability and to signal resilience to investors:
Pfizer
Pfizer reached an agreement on September 30 with the U.S. administration to invest $70 billion in research and development and domestic manufacturing. The company’s commitments earned it a three-year grace period that exempts its products from the pharmaceutical-targeted tariffs.
GSK
The London-based company said it intends to invest $30 billion in U.S. research and development and supply chain infrastructure over five years.
Eli Lilly
U.S. President Donald Trump stated in January that Eli Lilly plans to construct six plants in the United States. Lilly had earlier announced plans to spend at least $27 billion to build four U.S. plants to expand manufacturing and strengthen medical supply chains. The company has disclosed details on three of those sites, located in Alabama, Virginia and Texas. In January, Lilly added a $3.5 billion pharmaceutical facility in Pennsylvania as its fourth new site aimed at expanding U.S. production.
Johnson & Johnson
Johnson & Johnson said it will increase U.S. investments by 25%, amounting to $55 billion over the next four years. The company plans to construct four plants, including a facility at Wilson, North Carolina, and to expand at Tokyo-based Fujifilm Biotechnologies’ manufacturing site in Holly Springs, North Carolina, over the next decade. In February, J&J announced more than $1 billion to build a new cell therapy facility in Pennsylvania as part of broader U.S. manufacturing scale-up plans.
Roche
Roche announced in April last year an intention to invest $50 billion in the United States over five years. The company subsequently disclosed an additional $550 million expansion for its Indianapolis diagnostics manufacturing hub. The planned expansion encompasses operations in Indiana, Pennsylvania, Massachusetts and California and is expected to create over 12,000 jobs. In January, Roche said it would more than double investment in its Holly Springs, North Carolina, drug manufacturing facility to about $2 billion, up from the slightly more than $700 million announced in May 2025.
AstraZeneca
AstraZeneca committed to invest $50 billion in U.S. manufacturing by 2030. The investment will finance a new drug substance facility in Virginia, described as its largest single-site global investment, along with expansions in Maryland, Massachusetts, California, Indiana and Texas. The company has already initiated technology transfers and adjusted inventory in 2025 in an effort to minimize any tariff exposure. Company executives have characterized any impact as "very short-lived."
Novartis
Novartis outlined plans to invest $23 billion to build and expand 10 U.S. facilities over the next five years. That program includes six new manufacturing plants and an expansion of its San Diego research and development site, which is expected to create more than 1,000 jobs.
Sanofi
Sanofi said it will invest at least $20 billion in the United States through 2030 to bolster manufacturing and research. The company intends to expand U.S. production through direct investments at its sites and through partnerships with domestic manufacturers. Sanofi’s Chief Financial Officer François Roger said in July that the potential tariffs are expected to have a limited impact in 2025, citing existing U.S. inventory as a mitigating factor.
Biogen
Biogen announced an additional $2 billion of investment in its existing North Carolina manufacturing sites to increase capacity for gene-targeting therapies and to introduce more automation. The firm currently operates seven factories in the state, with an eighth scheduled to begin operations in late 2025.
Merck
Merck has started construction of a $3 billion pharmaceutical manufacturing plant in Virginia as part of a broader effort to commit over $70 billion to U.S. manufacturing and research and development. The company also plans a $1 billion investment in a new Delaware plant to produce biologics and the cancer drug Keytruda, measures that are expected to boost domestic production and could create more than 4,500 jobs. Merck also opened a $1 billion facility at a North Carolina site in March. Its animal health unit said it will invest $895 million to expand a Kansas manufacturing and R&D site as part of a $9 billion U.S. investment through 2028. Chief Executive Robert Davis indicated in July that the potential tariffs would have minimal impact in 2025, citing inventory management and relocation of manufacturing to the United States.
Amgen
Amgen plans to invest $900 million to expand its Ohio manufacturing plant, bringing total investment in the state to $1.4 billion and adding approximately 750 jobs. In December, the company committed $1 billion for a second facility in Holly Springs, North Carolina. Amgen is also investing more than $600 million in a new research and development center at its Thousand Oaks, California, headquarters. The company announced a $650 million expansion of drug manufacturing at its Juncos, Puerto Rico facility, expected to create nearly 750 jobs, and an additional $300 million to extend its U.S. manufacturing network and biologics capacity in Puerto Rico.
Novo Nordisk
Novo Nordisk described its U.S. manufacturing footprint as a strength in the face of tariff pressures, calling itself "very U.S.-centric and U.S.-focused."
AbbVie
AbbVie said in January it committed $100 billion over the next decade to U.S.-based research and development under a three-year deal with the administration intended to lower drug prices. With 11 U.S. manufacturing sites, AbbVie said it is "fairly insulated" from tariff effects this year because of inventory actions. In February the company announced plans to invest $380 million to add two manufacturing facilities at its North Chicago, Illinois, campus to support production of neuroscience and obesity medications.
Gilead Sciences
Gilead disclosed earlier this year $11 billion in new planned U.S. investment, increasing its total pledged U.S. investment to $32 billion. The company has started work on a pharmaceutical development and manufacturing hub at its Foster City, California headquarters and is developing two additional sites.
Cipla
The Indian drugmaker said it is expanding capacity for complex respiratory products at advanced facilities in Fall River, Massachusetts, and Central Islip, New York, to strengthen its U.S. manufacturing footprint.
CSL
Australia-based CSL announced in November plans to invest $1.5 billion in the United States to produce plasma-derived therapies over the next five years. In March, CSL said it would expand its plasma therapy manufacturing facility in Kankakee, Illinois, with operations expected to be online by 2031.
What firms are doing beyond capital plans
The industry response has not been limited to new plant announcements. Several firms have used pricing agreements to secure temporary tariff relief and have reported stepping up inventory levels inside the United States. Other measures documented in company statements include direct-to-consumer distribution adjustments and technology transfers intended to speed domestic production capability.
Examples include pricing deals and commitments tied to the administration's new TrumpRx.gov platform that afforded multi-year tariff exemptions to Pfizer and AstraZeneca. Several companies have publicly emphasized that inventory management and shifts in manufacturing location reduce near-term exposure to the proposed levies.
Investor and market signals
Executives at multiple firms have framed their actions as defensive and strategic: investments are positioned to secure supply chains and to reassure investors that potential tariff impacts can be limited through a combination of inventory buffering and domestic capacity growth. Some firms have estimated that the policy’s effect on operations in 2025 will be limited, citing already established stocks in the U.S. and projects underway.
Conclusion
The administrations' tariff threat has catalyzed a wave of capital commitments and operational changes across the global pharmaceutical industry. Whether motivated by the need to avoid potential punitive tariffs, to capture regulatory or political goodwill, or to shore up supply chains, many of the sector’s largest companies have laid out detailed investment plans and near-term operational adjustments aimed at limiting exposure to the policy.
These moves span direct capital investments in manufacturing and R&D facilities, technology transfers and inventory adjustments. Firms that secured temporary exemptions or pricing deals have bought themselves breathing room, while others have committed large-scale spending programs to embed more of their production footprint inside the United States.
Given the scale of announced commitments, U.S. manufacturing and related industrial, construction and logistics sectors can expect continued engagement from major pharmaceutical companies as they implement these plans.