Roche to invest US$750M in new injectable manufacturing facility in Oregon
Construction of the Hillsboro facility is expected to create about 200 jobs, with workers remaining on site through the project’s anticipated completion in 2031.
USA— Roche-owned Genentech will invest $750m to build a new injectable manufacturing facility in Hillsboro, Oregon, expanding the company’s US production capacity and strengthening its presence at its existing campus in the city.
The Swiss pharmaceutical company plans to construct an end-to-end fill-finish facility alongside its current Hillsboro manufacturing site.
The new plant will primarily produce injectable medicines from Roche and Genentech’s portfolios and development pipeline.
Roche has designed the facility to accommodate changing manufacturing needs.
The site will be capable of filling both low- and high-volume autoinjectors and pre-filled syringes, allowing the company to respond to growing demand for convenient drug-delivery formats that patients can use at home.
The company has not yet disclosed which specific medicines it will manufacture at the facility.
However, Roche currently markets several medicines in pre-filled syringe formats, including Enspryng (satralizumab), a treatment for rare autoimmune diseases, and the anaemia medicines Neorecormon (epoetin beta) and Mircera (methoxy polyethylene glycol-epoetin beta).
Jobs and construction timeline
Construction of the Hillsboro facility is expected to create about 200 jobs, with workers remaining on site through the project’s anticipated completion in 2031.
Once production begins, the facility is expected to employ approximately 250 skilled manufacturing specialists.
The new plant will add to Roche’s US manufacturing network, which currently includes 13 sites across several states.
Meanwhile, the company continues to expand its production footprint elsewhere in the country.
Recently, Roche completed the structural framework for its US$ 2 billion biomanufacturing facility in Holly Springs, North Carolina.
The site is expected to manufacture therapies for metabolic conditions as the company seeks to participate in the rapidly expanding obesity medicines market.
US manufacturing expansion
Roche’s investment comes as major pharmaceutical companies commit billions of dollars to expand manufacturing capacity in the US.
The trend has accelerated amid pressure from the Trump administration to increase domestic drug production, with pharmaceutical companies seeking to reduce exposure to potential tariffs.
The shift has also increased competition among US states to attract pharmaceutical manufacturing investments.
Industry experts previously told Pharmaceutical Technology that the push to bring production onshore is contributing to the emergence of new biotechnology hubs.
North Carolina, Virginia and Texas have attracted particular interest because of their relatively affordable operating costs, skilled workforces and favourable business tax environments.
Roche’s latest investment in Oregon adds another location to the expanding network of US pharmaceutical manufacturing centres.
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