UCB banks on Georgia for $2bn biologics manufacturing facility

UCB has chosen Georgia arsenic the location for its caller biologics manufacturing facility, cementing its bequest successful the authorities and marking the company’s latest enlargement effort successful the cardinal US market.

The $2bn, 460,000 ft², digital-first site, located successful Gwinnett County’s Rowen Development, volition beryllium the “cornerstone” of UCB’s planetary biologics manufacturing infrastructure – operating 24/7 erstwhile successful enactment to proviso the US market.

When the installation is up and running, it volition employment astir 330 skilled staff, portion generating an estimated $5bn for Georgia's economy. To boost efficiency, UCB volition incorporated automation, artificial quality (AI) and robotics into the site’s infrastructure.

Though UCB has not provided circumstantial details connected what it volition manufacture astatine the site, UCB’s US head, Taco van Tiel, noted that the Gwinnett County installation volition assistance successful the commercialized accumulation of “recently approved and aboriginal pipeline medicines”, which see 3 caller investigational and 5 marketed biologics.

Currently, UCB’s best-selling biologic is its interleukin-17 inhibitor, Bimzelx (bimekizumab), which pulled successful income of €2.23bn ($2.58bn) successful 2025. With GlobalData, genitor institution of Pharmaceutical Technology, forecasting that Bimzelx volition bring successful $7.5bn successful income successful 2031, of which 80% volition beryllium US-based, it is logical that the institution would heighten manufacturing capableness and beingness successful this market.

The authorities of Georgia is besides acquainted turf for UCB, arsenic the institution has situated its US office successful Smyrna, a suburb of the state’s capital, Atlanta, for much than 30 years. Rowen Development, which sits 35 miles distant from Atlanta, is besides located adjacent implicit 50 world institutions – including Emory and the University of Georgia.

UCB’s CEO, Jean-Christophe Tellier believes that Georgia is the close spot for the institution to proceed its US enlargement owed to the state's beardown endowment base, ecosystem and the state’s manufacturing legacy.

UCB’s $2bn enlargement comes amid a play of notable US maturation for the company, arsenic the institution has bolstered its American workforce by 73% since 2017. The Belgian pharma presently employs astir 2,000 radical connected American soil.

UCB is not the lone pharma institution to marque an enlargement determination successful the US, arsenic respective large pharma companies are pledging billions of dollars into their manufacturing infrastructure successful the country.

This comes arsenic the Trump medication is actively encouraging drugmakers to onshore their production, partially by imposing 100% tariffs connected branded pharmaceutical imports from those who bash not.