Novartis has broken ground on a new biomedical research center in San Diego, California. The facility represents another milestone in the company’s $23-billion US-based investments first announced in April 2025. 

Once operational in 2029, the approximately 466,000-square-foot facility is expected to house about 1,000 Novartis employees and integrate with Novartis global research sites, including sites in Cambridge, Massachusetts, and Basel, Switzerland, to enable integrated discovery efforts across regions. 

This is the second US investment announced by Novartis in 2026, joining a radioligand therapy (RLT) manufacturing facility in Winter Park, Florida, announced in January 2026. That 35,000-square-foot facility will come online by 2029 and will strengthen Novartis’ specialized supply-chain and manufacturing capabilities across its network of RLT production facilities. Over the next five years, Novartis says it will solidify its US RLT manufacturing network, with the new Florida site, the fourth of five existing or planned facilities. The company manufactures RTLs in facilities in Millburn, New Jersey, Indianapolis, Indianapolis, and Carlsbad, California, and a new site is planned in Texas. 

In addition, Novartis announced last November (November 2025), a major expansion plan in North Carolina. Anticipated to open in 2027–2028, the manufacturing hub, encompassing more than 700,000 square feet between the existing campus and new facilities, includes: 

• Building a new site in Durham, North Carolina, with the construction of two new facilities dedicated to manufacturing biologics and sterile packaging; 

• Building a new site in Morrisville, North Carolina, with one facility for the production of solid dosage tablets and capsules, including packaging; and 

• Expanding the scope of the company’s existing Durham, North Carolina, facility with the added capability to support sterile filling of biologics into syringes and vials. 

Source: Novartis