Johnson & Johnson Expands U.S. Biomanufacturing Amid Policy Shifts and Rising Demand

The announcement is another building block in Johnson & Johnson’s large US investment program: In March 2025, the company announced $55 billion for the expansion of manufacturing and infrastructure in the US , including three new production sites as well as expansions in the existing pharmaceutical and medtech network.

Johnson & Johnson plans to build a “next-generation” cell therapy production facility in Montgomery County, Pennsylvania, for more than $1 billion

The Montgomery County site is expected to create approximately 500 permanent biomanufacturing jobs, according to the company. During the construction phase, Johnson & Johnson also anticipates more than 4,000 jobs in related construction activities. The company did not provide a timeline for completion or commissioning.

The expansion of US production capacity coincides with a period in which the Trump administration has repeatedly threatened additional import tariffs on pharmaceuticals as an industrial policy tool – sometimes with phased increases, sometimes as very high rates on specific drug imports.

At the same time, the White House is pursuing the “Most Favored Nation” (MFN) approach to drug pricing: An Executive Order dated May 12, 2025, aims to align US prices for certain medications more closely with prices in comparable industrialized countries, supplemented by voluntary manufacturer agreements and new procurement/distribution channels. Germany is explicitly listed as one of these “comparable industrialized countries.”

MFN deals between pharmaceutical companies and the US government

With its “Most Favored Nation” (MFN) policy, the US government aims to bring pharmaceutical prices closer to the price levels of other wealthy countries. Import tariffs, from which cooperating manufacturers can be exempted, also serve as a lever here.

In parallel with the Pennsylvania project, Johnson & Johnson points to other US projects, including a new factory in North Carolina and the construction of a $2 billion biologics facility. Furthermore, J&J secured long-term capacity at contract manufacturer Fujifilm Biotechnologies’ biomanufacturing campus in Holly Springs, also in North Carolina, through a $2 billion deal.

For Johnson & Johnson, the capacity expansion is also linked to its own cell therapy portfolio: The company markets the CAR-T cell therapy Carvykti together with Legend Biotech. Carvykti has been approved since 2022 and, according to the report, reached $1.9 billion in sales in 2025; at the same time, cell therapies across the industry have repeatedly been characterized by supply and capacity bottlenecks.

Johnson & Johnson and Legend invested, among other things, in additional capacity in New Jersey and also partnered with the pharmaceutical company Novartis for commercial manufacturing. Furthermore, a capacity expansion in Ghent, Belgium, with approximately $150 million in additional investment, was announced in Europe; the project is scheduled for completion in 2028.

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(Featured image by National Cancer Institute via Unsplash)

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First published in Pharma+Food. A third-party contributor translated and adapted the article from the original. In case of discrepancy, the original will prevail.

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