AstraZeneca breaks ground on US$4.5B Virginia API plant for ADC cancer & oral GLP-1 drugs

USA—Pharmaceutical giant AstraZeneca has started building a US$4.5 billion facility in Virginia to manufacture active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs).

This site, near Charlottesville, will produce key components for medicines targeting cardiovascular, obesity, oncology, and metabolic diseases.

It will support both existing drugs and those in the company’s mid-to-late development stages, including the GLP-1 receptor agonist pill AZD5004/ECC-5004, developed with Eccogene, as well as hypertension medication baxdrostat and the LDL degrader laroprovstat.

Given the challenges in pharmaceutical supply chains, stricter sustainability demands, and new regulations, AstraZeneca aims to leverage artificial intelligence and digital tools at the facility to improve efficiency and financial stability.

On October 9, the company announced an additional US$500 million investment to expand production capacity, focusing on its cancer drug portfolio, and raising the total investment beyond the initial US$4 billion.

The expanded Virginia site will also produce antibody drug conjugates (ADCs), an important focus for AstraZeneca’s oncology research due to their potential to become central cancer treatments.

While the company has not revealed which ADCs will be made there, AstraZeneca has regulatory approval for two key products in this category.

These include Enhertu (trastuzumab deruxtecan), a blockbuster drug expected to generate US$14.3 billion in revenue by 2031, according to GlobalData analysts.

 The other is Datroway (datopotamab deruxtecan), which recently received accelerated approval for non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC).

Datroway also showed promising results in the Phase III TROPION-Breast02 trial, outperforming chemotherapy for certain breast cancer patients.

The Virginia manufacturing site is projected to create 600 full-time jobs and around 3,000 construction jobs during the build.

AstraZeneca plans to open the facility within four to five years if progress remains on schedule.

This plant forms a key part of AstraZeneca’s $50 billion investment in the U.S., a move sparked by tariff threats on branded drug imports during the previous U.S. administration.

AstraZeneca’s CEO Pascal Soriot described this as the company’s largest investment ever, aimed at boosting U.S. national security and healthcare sovereignty.

The decision to invest in Virginia follows Eli Lilly’s US$5 billion investment nearby, where Lilly is building a facility to manufacture biconjugate and monoclonal antibodies in Goochland County.

Additionally, Merck has expanded capacity at its Elkton, Virginia site since 2022 to increase production of the Gardasil HPV vaccine, underscoring the region’s growing role as a pharmaceutical manufacturing hub.

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