J&J to invest $1 billion in new Pennsylvania plant amid US manufacturing push

Feb 18 (Reuters) - Johnson & Johnson (JNJ) said on Wednesday it will invest more than $1 billion to build a new cell therapy facility in Pennsylvania, part of its larger ?plans announced last year to scale up ?U.S. manufacturing amid President Donald Trump's tariff threats.

In March, the company announced a ?plan to invest more than $55 billion through early 2029 to ?build manufacturing facilities and research infrastructure in ?the U.S., including ?a separate plant at Wilson, North Carolina.

The U.S. government imposed a

100% tariff

on ?branded drugs in October, but ?said it would only apply to producers that had not already broken ground on U.S. manufacturing plants.

Major ?drugmakers, including Eli Lilly (LLY) ?and AstraZeneca (AZN), have ?also committed billions of dollars in investments to scale up their U.S. footprint in response to Trump's efforts, including ?tariff threats.

J&J said the new facility in Montgomery ?County will create over 4,000 construction jobs and 500 permanent biomanufacturing jobs once it opens. The company did not disclose when the plant will begin operations.

The facility will expand ?manufacturing ?capacity for medicines targeting cancer, immune disorders, and neurological diseases, ?the company said.

The company currently has one approved ?cell therapy, Carvykti, for adults with certain types of multiple myeloma, a cancer that forms in plasma cells in the bone marrow.

J&J already has 10 facilities in Pennsylvania, with an estimated annual economic impact of about $10 billion, the company said.

In August, the drugmaker said ?it would invest $2 billion for a manufacturing facility in Holly Springs, North Carolina under a 10-year agreement with Tokyo-based contract ?drug developer Fujifilm Biotechnologies.

(Reporting by ?Sahil Pandey and Siddhi Mahatole in Bengaluru; Editing ?by Leroy Leo)