Genentech is more than doubling its investment, to $2 billion, in its southern Wake County plant in Holly Springs. It now expects to employ at least 500 people at the site, 100 more than previously noted.
The South San Francisco, California-based company is part of Switzerland’s Roche Group. The drugmaker sees the Holly Springs site as critical to compete in the anti-obesity drug sector now dominated by Novo Nordisk and Eli Lilly.
The company announced plans in March for a 700,000-square-foot factory in Holly Springs, then held a groundbreaking ceremony in August. The company says it will probably open the plant in 2029, leveraging advanced biomanufacturing, automation and digital tools, according to a company statement.
Genentech was North Carolina’s second-biggest economic development announcement last year, trailing JetZero’s planned airplane factory in Greensboro.
North Carolina beat out Ohio for the pharma project, after offering a $44.9 million package of state and local incentives in return for the company’s promise to create at least 420 jobs. The positions will pay an annual average wage of $120,000, the company has said. That’s almost 49% more than the current Wake County annual wage of $80,616.
Roche has been developing its own GLP-1 variants and has licensed related drugs.
Roche and Genentech have committed $50 billion to expand U.S. manufacturing as part of the Trump administration’s push for more domestic pharmaceutical production. The company has 13 manufacturing and 15 R&D sites in its pharmaceutical and diagnostics divisions, while employing about 25,000 workers in eight U.S. states.
“This expansion reflects our long-term commitment to the U.S. and communities like Holly Springs that offer the kind of world-class biotech talent, top research institutions, and strong infrastructure that make innovation possible,” Genentech CEO Ashley Magargee said via a news release.
David Mildenberg is editor of Business North Carolina. Reach him at dmildenberg@businessnc.com.