AstraZeneca has announced the location of a new $4.5-billion active pharmaceutical ingredient (API) manufacturing facility in Charlottesville, Albemarle County, Virginia, which will support manufacturing over a broad range of medicines, including cancer treatments. This is part of the company’s previously announced $50-billion investment in the US in research and development and manufacturing, which was announced in July 2025.  

The new facility will produce drug substances for AstraZeneca’s weight management and metabolic portfolio, including oral GLP-1, baxdrostat, oral PCSK9 products, and combination small-molecule products. The company is also expanding the scope of products to include the company’s antibody drug conjugate cancer portfolio. Work will start immediately (as reported on October 9, 2025) with the facility expected to be operational in the next four to five years. The $4.5-billion investment includes an additional $500 million to the company’s original planned investment.

The new facility is expected to create approximately 3,600 direct and indirect jobs, which includes 600 highly skilled jobs, including engineers, scientists, and process facilitators and which includes an additional 100 jobs as a result of the increased investment. A further 3,000 jobs will be created to support the construction of the facility, including engineers, skilled trades, and construction workers.

In addition to the API manufacturing facility in Virginia, the $50-billion investment across the company’s R&D and manufacturing footprint in the US over the next five years also includes:  

• Expansion of its R&D facility in Gaithersburg, Maryland;  

• A new R&D center in Kendall Square, Cambridge, Massachusetts;  

• Manufacturing facilities for cell therapy in Rockville, Maryland, and Tarzana, California;  

• Continuous manufacturing expansion in Mount Vernon, Indiana;   

• Specialty manufacturing expansion in Coppell, Texas;  

• New sites to supply clinical trials; and   

• Growing research and development investment in medicines. 

Source: AstraZeneca