Last week, UK-based pharmaceutical conglomerate AstraZeneca announced a further $2 billion investment at two separate sites within the US state of Maryland. This follows an overarching pledge of $50 billion the pharmaceutical giant promised to the US manufacturing economy in July 2025.
According to the company, the $2 billion investment will be utilized to expand AstraZeneca’s flagship biologics manufacturing facility in Frederick, and to begin breaking ground on a new facility in Gaithersburg. Both centers are expected to be fully operational at the end of 2029.
“This landmark investment affirms our reputation as a global leader in life sciences, while strengthening the US medicine supply chain,” stated Maryland governor Wes Moore in the release. “We are proud to partner with AstraZeneca to grow our economy.”
AstraZeneca claims the investment will bring over 2,600 jobs across the two sites to the state of Maryland, including 300 “highly skilled” jobs. Once fully operational, both manufacturing facilities will almost double commercial capacity. This will add to the over $54 billion in annual revenue the company reported last December, and the $20 billion it claims to add to the US economy.
“As the state’s largest biopharmaceutical employer, we are deepening our long-standing commitment to Maryland – supporting 2,600 jobs, catalyzing economic growth and bringing our extensive rare disease portfolio onshore for the first time,” commented AstraZeneca CEO Pascal Soriot.
“This investment strengthens the resilience of the US medicines supply chain and accelerates access to transformative therapies.”
The expansion of the Frederick facility will support the manufacturing of key biologics to support a multitude of therapies, including for autoimmune and rare diseases. The Gaithersburg site will bolster AstraZeneca’s ability to participate in and produce molecules for use in clinical trials. The company said both sites will utilize automation, data analytics, and AI to maintain standards.
This news comes after AstraZeneca announced it began construction on a $4.5 billion manufacturing facility in Virginia, which, when complete, will be one of the largest US sites for the production of pharmaceuticals.
In less positive news, Maryland recently suffered over 400 job losses as the contract development manufacturing organization (CDMO) Catalent’s facilities made substantial reductions. BioProcess Insider recently reported on an anonymous employee of Catalent who attributed recent redundancies at the Maryland facilities to poor management.
AstraZeneca’s push to bolster its US manufacturing footprint is occurring in the wake of an ongoing battle for dominance between the US and China for pharmaceutical production. As a result, the US administration has instilled both positive and negative incentives to push pharmaceutical companies to onshore production of medicines.
Quotes have been lightly edited for clarity and brevity. AstraZeneca did not respond to requests to comment at the time of publishing.
