Genentech, a South San Francisco, Calif.-based subsidiary of European biotech company Roche Group, plans to build a $700-million manufacturing facility in North Carolina.
The 700,000-sq-ft high-volume fill-finish plant would produce metabolic medicines, bolstering both Genentech’s production capacity and its supply chain resilience, according to the company. It would be Genentech’s first East Coast manufacturing facility.
The plant is scheduled to finish and begin operating by 2029. A Genentech spokesperson said the company currently had no information to share publicly about the project’s contractor selection.
North Carolina Gov. Josh Stein (D) announced Genentech’s selection of a site in Holly Springs, N.C., last May. “These companies know that our life science workforce is ready to help them deliver their cutting-edge medicines to the world,” he said in a statement.
27.8%
Decline in manufacturing starts in the 12 months ending in July.
Source: Dodge Construction Network
The 100-acre lot includes room for expansion, the company noted.
In a statement, Genentech CEO Ashley Magargee credited the U.S. Dept. of Commerce’s U.S. Investment Accelerator program with helping the project clear its permitting. President Donald Trump directed the program’s creation via executive order in March to “facilitate and accelerate” investment in the U.S. The program is now also responsible for the department’s CHIPS Program Office, which was established by the Biden administration to support semiconductor chip manufacturing and R&D projects.
The program is “remov[ing] regulatory barriers that cause delays in establishing manufacturing sites in the U.S.,” Magargee said.
