Novartis Plans $23B Investment in US Facilities as Trump Threatens Pharma Tariffs

Swiss pharmaceutical giant Novartis (NVS) said it plans to invest $23 billion in the construction and expansion of 10 U.S. facilities, as drugmakers brace for potential tariffs from the Trump administration. 

The planned investment includes six new manufacturing plants and a San Diego-based research and development site to be built over the next five years. Two of the six plants, which Novartis said will manufacture cancer therapies, are slated to be built in Florida and Texas.

Novartis said it expects the projects to create more than 4,000 American jobs, including 1,000 roles at the company.

Move Comes Amid Tariff Uncertainty

Novartis’ announcement comes after President Donald Trump earlier this week said his administration will “be announcing very shortly a major tariff on pharmaceuticals.”

“We’re going to tariff our pharmaceuticals, and once we do that they’re going to come rushing back into our country because we’re the big market,” Trump said at a dinner hosted by the National Republican Congressional Committee. 

Novartis CEO Vas Narasimhan said tariffs were a consideration but not the driving factor behind the investment, Reuters reported Thursday.

Novartis shares were little changed Thursday amid a broader market decline. The stock has gained about 6% in 2025 through Thursday’s close. (Read Investopedia’s live coverage of today’s market action here.)

In February, rival drugmaker Eli Lilly (LLY) said it would invest at least $27 billion to build four new pharmaceutical manufacturing sites in the U.S. A month later, Johnson & Johnson (JNJ) announced plans to raise its domestic investments to $55 billion over the next four years.