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The new 700,000-square-foot Holly Springs site—part of Roche’s $50 billion US investment plan—will focus on metabolic and obesity treatments, create 400 jobs, and strengthen domestic biopharma manufacturing amid shifting tariff and drug pricing policies.
Yesterday, Genentech, a biotech company that is a member of the Roche Group, officially broke ground on its most recent US manufacturing plant—a 700,000 square-foot facility in Holly Springs, NC.1 This $700 million-plus investment represents the company’s first production facility on the East Coast and is part of a $50 billion commitment to investing in US manufacturing, infrastructure, and R&D.
The plant will be handling production of the company’s future portfolio of metabolic meds, featuring obesity treatments. It will be implementing modern biomanufacturing tech, along with advanced automation and digital services. The future facility is also expected to increase production capacity for the company’s manufacturing network, while boosting supply chain resilience.
More than 1,500 construction jobs will be added during the process’ development phase, along with more than 400 local manufacturing jobs once the site becomes operational in 2029.
With its skilled workforce, strong academic infrastructure, and proximity to major life science players in the Raleigh-Durham area, Holly Springs was a no-brainer to house the new facility. Most recently, Johnson & Johnson also announced plans to boost its North Carolina presence by constructing a 160,0000-plus-square-foot manufacturing facility at FUJIFILM’s new biopharmaceutical manufacturing site in the same town.2 It intends to invest $2 billion over the next decade.
“We are proud to break ground on our new manufacturing site in Holly Springs, North Carolina, with its world-class biotech talent, top research institutions and a robust infrastructure that will enable our growth for years to come,” said Ashley Magargee, Genentech’s CEO. “With this step, we are taking action to deliver more life-changing medicines to patients faster, contribute to the local economy, and bolster manufacturing and innovation in the US.
“We are supportive of President Trump's goal to bring more pharmaceutical manufacturing to the United States and appreciate the work that Commerce Secretary Lutnick and the Department of Commerce's US Investment Accelerator are doing to remove regulatory barriers that cause delays in establishing manufacturing sites in the US. We also thank the North Carolina, Wake County, and Holly Springs officials for their partnership. Their warm welcome and leadership in the life sciences bodes well for great things to come for our company, your communities, and, ultimately, for patients.”
As Magargee alluded to, President Trump has been a proponent of enacting tariffs on manufacturers in order to encourage reshoring of these processes back to the United States. Various changes along this front have occurred over the course of nearly seven months, beginning in early February, when President Trump announced that the US planned to approve a tariff of 25% or higher on pharmaceuticals. That number then skyrocketed to as high as 250%—a new high—which Trump had revealed in an interview with CNBC’s “Squawk Box.”3
Ultimately, at least with the European Unition, the US revealed a framework for a deal centered around “reciprocal, fair, and balanced trade” that is expected to get into effect Sept. 1 of this year. It essentially limits tariffs on pharmaceutical imports to 15%.3
In late July, Trump issued letters to 17 of the largest pharmaceutical companies—including Genentech—expressing urgency for making changes along the drug pricing front.4 These letters stem from an executive order (EO) he enacted on May 1 that essentially proclaimed that pharma companies need to treat the United States as a most-favored nation (MFN) as it pertains to drug pricing. The EO notes that US drug prices need to be less than or equal to the drug’s lowest price in other nations, as a way of establishing fairness.
All of the letters have the same wording and explain what he looks to accomplish from the MFN order, while providing a timeline for compliance leading up to the Sept. 29 deadline. This includes extending MFN pricing to Medicaid; guaranteeing MFN pricing for newly-launched drugs; returning increased revenues abroad to American patients and taxpayers; and providing for direct purchasing at MFN pricing.
The involved companies are recommended to engage with both Sec. Kennedy and Administrator Oz in order to make those changes.
References
1. Genentech and Roche Break Ground on State-of-the-Art Manufacturing Facility in Holly Springs, North Carolina. Genentech. August 25, 2025. Accessed August 26, 2025. https://www.gene.com/media/press-releases/15074/2025-08-25/genentech-and-roche-break-ground-on-stat
2. Saraceno N. Johnson & Johnson Commits $2 Billion to North Carolina Manufacturing Expansion. Pharmaceutical Commerce. August 21, 2025. Accessed August 26, 2025. https://www.pharmaceuticalcommerce.com/view/johnson-johnson-commits-2-billion-north-carolina-manufacturing-expansion
3. Saraceno N. White House and EU Finalize Trade Deal With 15% Cap on Pharma Tariffs. Pharmaceutical Commerce. August 21, 2025. Accessed August 26, 2025. https://www.pharmaceuticalcommerce.com/view/white-house-eu-trade-deal-15-percent-cap-pharma-tariffs
4. Saraceno N. Trump’s MFN Drug Pricing Push Targets 17 Big Pharma Companies, Spurs Global Industry Response. Pharmaceutical Commerce. August 1, 2025. Accessed August 26, 2025. https://www.pharmaceuticalcommerce.com/view/trump--mfn-drug-pricing-17-big-pharma-companies-spurs-global-industry-response
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