After AbbVie earlier this year pledged a whopping $100 billion in U.S. R&D and capital investments over the next decade, the company is filling in more details on its expansion plans. And like with many other pharma giants, it’s putting down roots in North Carolina.
The North Chicago-based drugmaker on Wednesday revealed its largest-ever capital investment in a single campus, plotting a 185-acre production hub in Durham. The project will cost some $1.4 billion and add more than 730 roles to the company’s headcount, according to an April 22 press release. The site will produce certain AbbVie medicines in its immunology, neuroscience and oncology portfolios.
Alongside the planned campus being AbbVie’s largest capital investment to date, it’s also the company’s first major investment in North Carolina. The state has attracted a who’s who of biopharma juggernauts over the years, and particularly so during the industry’s feverish reshoring push of the last 12 months. For example, Novartis in November said it would set up a manufacturing hub in Durham and the nearby town of Morrisville, spending $771 million and hiring hundreds in the process.
Besides Novartis, Roche and Biogen are among the high-profile drugmakers that have unveiled plans for new North Carolina sites as of late.
As for AbbVie, the latest announcement comes after the company in January struck a deal with the White House encompassing its U.S. drug-pricing and investment commitments. On the investment side, its $100 billion pledge includes domestic R&D and capital expenditures over a 10-year span, with projects in North Chicago, Arizona and Massachusetts falling in the latter category.
In Durham, the first phase of construction will include small-volume parenteral (SVP) drug product manufacturing facilities. SVPs contain small medicine volumes that come in vials, prefilled cartridges or prefilled syringes to be injected or infused.
Besides the SVP production sites, the campus will feature laboratories, a warehouse, offices and more. AbbVie is planning for construction to be complete by the end of 2028.
AbbVie selected the Durham location because of the strength of the local community’s workforce and its ability to support future growth, according to the release.
“AbbVie’s decision to make its largest-ever capital investment in North Carolina is a strong endorsement of the life sciences ecosystem we’ve built across the state,” Christopher Chung, CEO of the Economic Development Partnership of North Carolina, said in a statement. “With a deep talent pool and the ability to support everything from innovation to manufacturing at scale, North Carolina continues to be a top choice for companies looking to grow.”
AbbVie’s announcement comes amid a surge in domestic production expenditures in the pharma industry. As the Trump administration has repeatedly beat the drum of tariff threats since the start of last year, Big Pharmas such as Johnson & Johnson, Eli Lilly, Gilead Sciences and Bristol Myers Squibb have responded with major capital investment plans.
