The wave of US-based manufacturing investments has garnered the headlines, but what are key ex-US capital projects by pharma companies? DCAT Value Chain Insights provides a global roundup. 

By Patricia Van Arnum, Editorial Director, DCAT, pvanarnum@dcat.org

Key capital projects outside the US
Although much of the recent headlines in capital expansions by bio/pharmaceutical companies have centered on US-based investments, companies have also announced other key projects globally.

As a case in point, this week (January 29, 2026), AstraZeneca announced a $15-billion investment in China through 2030 to expand medicines manufacturing and research and development (R&D).

China is AstraZeneca’s second-largest market and a strategic hub for global innovation, home to two global R&D centers (Beijing and Shanghai) that have led 20 global clinical trials to-date, four manufacturing sites (Wuxi, Taizhou, Qingdao, and Beijing), which supply medicines to over 70 markets globally and domestically in China, and commercial operations across five regional hubs. The $15-billion investments build on AstraZeneca’s R&D footprint in China, including its global strategic R&D centers in Beijing and Shanghai. The company will also develop its existing manufacturing facilities in Wuxi, Taizhou, Qingdao, and Beijing, together with the establishment of new sites to be announced. The investment will enhance the company’s cell-therapy and radioconjugates capabilities. Building on its 2024 acquisition of Gracell Biotechnologies, AstraZeneca says it will have end-to-end cell-therapy capabilities in China.

AstraZeneca had earlier announced in 2025 an investment of $2.5 billion in Beijing to establish its sixth global strategic R&D center and also announced research and manufacturing agreements that will further advance the company’s position in China. The company’s global strategic R&D center in Beijing is its second in China, following its Shanghai R&D center. The center in Beijing will advance early-stage research and clinical development and will be enabled by a new AI and data-science laboratory.

AstraZeneca is also moving forward with a new $1.5-billion manufacturing facility in Singapore for antibody drug conjugates (ADCs). The greenfield facility, supported by the Singapore Economic Development Board, will be AstraZeneca’s first end-to-end ADC production site, fully incorporating all steps of the manufacturing process at a commercial scale. AstraZeneca first announced the facility in 2024, with targeted operational readiness slated from 2029.

In January 2025, AstraZeneca announced a $570-million investment in Canada across all areas of the business. Canada is an important R&D source for AstraZeneca with $146 million in R&D spending in 2023, much of which is focused on delivery of more than 210 AstraZeneca global clinical studies of new medicines and indications. Since 2023, the company’s investments in Canada have exceeded $902 million. In 2024, AstraZeneca completed its $2-billion agreement acquisition of Hamilton, Ontario-based Fusion Pharmaceuticals, which is developing radioconjugates for treating cancer.

Last November (November 2025), Eli Lilly and Company announced plans to build a new $3-billion manufacturing facility in Katwijk, the Netherlands, to expand Lilly’s capacity to produce oral solid medicines in cardiometabolic health, neuroscience, oncology, and immunology. The new site will also be among those that will manufacture Lilly’s first oral, small-molecule GLP-1 receptor agonist, orforglipron. Last October (October 2025), Lilly announced an  investment of more than $1.2 billion to expand and modernize its Lilly del Caribe manufacturing site in Carolina, Puerto Rico, to expand solid dosage manufacturing capacity, including for orforglipron. Construction on the expanded oral solid medicine product manufacturing facility in Puerto Rico is estimated to begin in 2026, with plans to start producing medicine by the end of 2028. Construction of the new facility in the Netherlands is expected to begin this year (2026), with Lilly’s investment contingent upon the finalization of government permits and local approvals. The new site in the Netherlands will add to Lilly’s manufacturing footprint in the European Union (EU), which  includes four existing sites across France, Ireland, Italy and Spain. Since 2020, the company announced plans for three additional EU sites, including new greenfield sites in Ireland, Germany, and now, the Netherlands.

Last April (April 2025), Novo Nordisk announced plans to invest of BRL 6.4 billion ($1 billion) to expand its production facility in Montes Claros, Brazil, to increase production capacity for injectable treatments for treating obesity, diabetes, and other chronic diseases. The expansion will increase the facility’s capacity with the addition of new aseptic production processes, a warehouse, and a new quality control laboratory. The facility will serve a variety of product formats, including glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1) products. Operations, as announced in 2025, are expected to begin in 2028. The company has been present in Brazil since 1990 and currently has more than 2,000 employees. It is present in two locations, with an administrative office in São Paulo and the production unit in Montes Claros.

In addition, in late 2024, Novo Nordisk announced plans to invest DKK 8.5 billion ($1.2 billion) to establish a new production facility in Odense, Denmark, to accommodate multiple product types for treating rare diseases, such as hemophilia. The facility is scheduled to be completed in 2027. The new facility represents the first new production site in Denmark for the company and follows an announcement in late 2024 of a large-scale investment in Denmark for upgrading its quality control operations with an investment of DKK 2.9 billion ($411 million) to establish a quality control laboratory at the company’s site in Hillerød, Denmark.

Last May (May 2025), Roche announced plans to build a new $282-million biomanufacturing facility in China. The proposed new facility in China would have a construction area of about 25,000 square meters and would be located in Zhangjiang High-tech Park, Pudong New District, Shanghai. The project is expected to be officially completed in 2029 and officially put into production in 2031. The facility will be used for the localized production of Roshika (fariximab injection), an ophthalmic bispecific antibody drug.