The company’s investment will bring as many as 700 new jobs for biologics, small molecule manufacturing
RESEARCH TRIANGLE PARK, N.C. (November 19, 2025) — Novartis Gene Therapies, a division of Switzerland-based Novartis, one of the world’s largest pharmaceutical companies, plans to expand in the Research Triangle with $771 million of investments at multiple locations, creating its first biologics drug substance facility in the United States and adding small molecule manufacturing and new fill/finish capabilities.
The multi-part North Carolina plan is part of Novartis’ previously announced $23 billion investment in U.S. infrastructure over the next five years. Across the three RTP projects, Novartis expects to add as many as 700 positions by 2031.
“North Carolina has been a home to Novartis for two decades, enabling our groundbreaking work to manufacture life-changing gene therapies. We are excited to deepen our ties to this local community that has had a key role in helping bring our innovation to patients in the US and around the world,” said Vas Narasimhan, CEO of Novartis.
“By building a full, end-to-end manufacturing presence in North Carolina for our broader portfolio, we are expanding our capacity to deliver medical breakthroughs, securing a more resilient US supply chain, and investing in the local communities that make our mission possible.”
The Novartis investment involves three projects:
- Novartis plans to upfit a 202,000-square-foot purpose-built space in Pathway Triangle, a new advanced manufacturing campus in Morrisville, for small molecule API (active pharmaceutical ingredient) manufacturing. This will be a $231 million investment in Wake County.
- Novartis has acquired the former Jaguar Gene Therapy building, a 174,000-square-foot facility at 14 T.W. Alexander Drive in Durham. The company plans to expand that facility to establish a biologics drug substance operation. Novartis said this will be a $400 million investment. This will be the company’s first biologics facility in the U.S.
- The third component of Novartis’ expansion project in the Triangle will involve adding fill/finish capabilities at its new T.W. Alexander Drive facility as well as its current location at 2500 S. TriCenter Blvd. in Durham. The company expects this part of the project to be a $140 million investment.
“North Carolina continues to lead in advanced pharmaceutical manufacturing, and Novartis’ expansion in the Triangle reflects our state’s talent and innovative spirit,” said Gov. Josh Stein. “This investment will strengthen our state’s economy and ensure life-saving medicines continue to be made right in North Carolina.”
While salaries for the new positions will vary, Novartis expects the average annual salary to be $111,161, which exceeds the Durham County average of $97,531 and the Wake County average of $76,643. These new jobs could create a potential annual payroll impact of more than $42 million to the local economy, according to the state Dept. of Commerce.
The state’s Economic Investment Committee (EIC) met Wednesday morning and approved a jobs-based incentive package for the company that totals about $10 million. Over the course of the 12-year term of the JDIG, the Novartis project is estimated to grow the state’s economy by $3.1 billion.
In addition, state training incentives through the Division of Workforce Solutions and the community college system are valued at nearly $9 million. Wake and Durham counties and Morrisville have approved incentives worth about $12.6 million, the EIC said.
NC part of Novartis’ national expansion
In April 2025, Novartis announced $23 billion of investment over five years in U.S.-based infrastructure, ensuring all key Novartis medicines for U.S. patients will be made in the United States. The company said that commitment enabled it to expand its current manufacturing, research and technology presence across the country with 10 facilities, including 7 brand new facilities, creating nearly 1,000 new jobs at Novartis and approximately 4,000 additional U.S. jobs. The production capacity will cover both API and biologics drug substance, as well as secondary production and packaging.
With new manufacturing capacity, Novartis said it will be able to produce 100% of its key medicines end-to-end in the U.S., a significant increase from current levels.
Just last week, Novartis announced the opening of a new 10,000-square-foot radioligand therapy (RLT) manufacturing facility in Carlsbad, Calif.
In addition to the Carlsbad opening, Novartis has announced multiple construction initiatives and future plans in the U.S., including:
- Two additional RLT manufacturing facilities in Florida and Texas.
- Expansion of existing sites in Durham, Indianapolis, and Millburn, N.J.
- Establishing its second global R&D hub in the U.S. with a new state-of-the-art biomedical research innovation facility in San Diego.
“Novartis is a leader in innovative biotech, and it is inspiring to see the impact that Novartis medicines – including those manufactured in North Carolina – make in patient lives,” said Laura Rowley, Ph.D., vice president, life sciences economic development, at the North Carolina Biotechnology Center. “With this investment spanning three sites, two counties, and multiple therapeutic modalities, North Carolina’s collaborative ecosystem is well poised to support this expansion of Novartis’ capabilities in the state.”
Novartis’ expansion plans in N.C. includes small molecule (chemically synthesized medicines) and large molecule biologics (therapies derived from living organisms).
Both Wake and Durham Counties to benefit
The Dallas-Fort Worth region was the main competition for the Novartis project, according to state officials. The company primarily considered each area’s responsiveness and solution-oriented partnership, plus ability to affect the company’s speed to market, the life sciences ecosystems, workforce readiness and availability of economic incentives, the state said.
The Novartis investments in RTP span two counties, Wake and Durham.
“This investment will support the production of additional life-saving medications in the greater Triangle Region and also creates new jobs that do not require a four-year or advanced degree,” said Durham County Board of Commissioners Chair Nida Allam. “I’m also very proud of the workforce development partnerships that will further enhance the pipeline to well-paying, entry-level manufacturing jobs.”
The facilities in Durham will include an advanced biologics production facility as well as an expanded manufacturing footprint for aseptic drug products (ADP), a critical segment of the pharmaceutical supply chain.
In Wake County, the Novartis operation will expand its national capabilities in the production of small molecule active pharmaceutical ingredients used in life-saving medications.
“Novartis will join a host of thriving life sciences companies that are expanding their operations in Wake County,” said Chair Susan Evans, Wake County Board of Commissioners. “The word is out. The Research Triangle is the epicenter of biotech manufacturing, and because of our skilled workforce, business-friendly economy and high quality of life, we will continue to attract companies like Novartis who will help improve the health and wellbeing of millions around the world.”
The Pathway Triangle location in Morrisville is a 75-acre campus that was developed by King Street Properties to support biomanufacturing companies. The campus offers purpose-built GMP space designed to remove the real estate obstacles that these companies face when trying to scale manufacturing quickly. With the base buildings offered at Pathway Triangle, companies can shorten their path to occupancy and production by 18-24 months.
Novartis history in NC
Novartis in 2018 acquired Illinois-based AveXis, which manufactured a gene therapy at a then-new $55 million facility in Durham. In 2019, Novartis announced that it planned a $60 million expansion of that facility. Novartis renamed AveXis in 2020, and it became Novartis Gene Therapies.
Currently, Novartis Gene Therapies has about 400 employees at its Durham site. That location produces Zolgensma, the only FDA-approved gene replacement therapy to treat spinal muscular atrophy (SMA), according to Novartis. SMA is a rare genetic disease that causes muscle weakness in infants and impacts child development. Since then, physicians have prescribed the one-dose treatment Zolgensma to more than 4,000 children.
A flu vaccine facility in Holly Springs, located 24 miles south of Research Triangle Park, was built by Novartis in partnership with BARDA and began production in 2014. Novartis sold the facility and its vaccines business in 2015 to the vaccines division of CSL Ltd., an Australian biopharmaceutical company, for $275 million. CSL renamed the vaccines business CSL Seqirus and expanded the facility in 2022.
Read the original press release on the N.C. Biotechnology Center website.