Feb 18 - Johnson & Johnson on Wednesday confirmed plans to invest in a new cell therapy production site in Pennsylvania, committing more than $1 billion to the project. The announced facility in Montgomery County is positioned as a key element of the company's larger U.S. manufacturing expansion, first outlined in greater detail earlier this year.
The company said the new plant will support production of therapies aimed at cancer, immune disorders, and neurological diseases. J&J stated the Montgomery County project will create in excess of 4,000 construction jobs during the build and roughly 500 permanent biomanufacturing roles once the facility is operational. The firm did not provide a timeline for when the plant will begin operations.
J&J noted the Pennsylvania site complements its March announcement to invest more than $55 billion through early 2029 to build manufacturing facilities and research infrastructure across the U.S., including a separate plant in Wilson, North Carolina. The company also pointed to an earlier August commitment to invest $2 billion in a manufacturing facility in Holly Springs, North Carolina, under a 10-year agreement with Tokyo-based contract developer Fujifilm Biotechnologies.
The investment in Pennsylvania adds to the company's existing footprint in the state. J&J currently operates 10 facilities in Pennsylvania, which it estimates generate an annual economic impact of about $10 billion.
The company currently markets one approved cell therapy, Carvykti, authorized for adults with certain types of multiple myeloma. The planned expansion of manufacturing capacity is intended to support production of that category of treatment as well as other therapies targeting immune and neurological conditions.
The announcement arrives against a backdrop of U.S. policy measures and industry responses. The U.S. government imposed a 100% tariff on branded drugs in October, while clarifying that the tariff would apply only to producers that had not already broken ground on U.S. manufacturing plants. Major drugmakers, including Eli Lilly and AstraZeneca, have also publicly committed billions to expand their U.S. manufacturing presence in response to tariff threats.
Context and implications - The Pennsylvania investment underscores an ongoing shift among large pharmaceutical companies toward enlarging domestic manufacturing capacity. Construction employment and long-term biomanufacturing headcount are explicit near-term outcomes the company has highlighted, while the timing for production start-up remains unspecified.