With more than $270 billion in commitments to date, a new wave of pharmaceutical manufacturing is slated to hit the US.
At least, that’s what the industry is trying to project.
Take Johnson & Johnson’s (JNJ) $55 billion over the next four years, announced in March, which includes expansions to existing facilities already underway. Eli Lilly (LLY), meanwhile, announced $50 billion in investments in February, with half of that coming from existing plans.
Behind the curtain of the multibillion-dollar promises to reshore drug manufacturing is a more sober reality: While some of the announcements are new, many have been in the works for years.
The reason? A global manufacturing footprint has proven risky, thanks to the COVID-19 pandemic. In addition, patent expiries mean more R&D activity and thus more local manufacturing needs. And then there’s the fact that people are living longer, requiring a higher volume of drugs.
Those are the key reasons behind the long-term manufacturing plans drugmakers began crafting in the last few years.
Sandy Romero, head of life sciences & healthcare insights at Cushman & Wakefield (CWK), said, “It wasn’t like the tariffs came and the pharmaceutical companies [decided to] open plants because of the tariffs.”
It’s likely some plans have been pushed up, she said, to meet the moment in an effort to avoid the tariffs altogether.
“When they decide to actually break ground … it’s been three to five years in planning,” Romero said.
Lilly is one of the few that has announced new plans that align with Trump’s needs, to bring basic chemical component production, currently mostly located in Europe or Asia, back to the US.
Lilly CEO David Ricks previously told Yahoo Finance, “I think if the goal is to repatriate the supply chain, I would say probably the threat of tariffs has already done that.”
Especially since the $270 billion could also be an undercount, as some companies have chosen not to make flashy announcements about their plans, according to experts.
“It’s accurate to state that there was a global supply chain approach to pharmaceuticals and biotech. And the lessons learned from the pandemic, and disruption to the supply chain, created a greater focus into regionalizing those supply chains,” said Jose Jimenez, vice president and business leader of life sciences at major construction firm Gilbane.
And with generations of humans living longer comes greater demand for drugs for chronic and serious diseases that are prevalent in older age groups, Jimenez said.
That’s why the recently announced plans have less to do with Trump’s efforts to revive US manufacturing and more to do with the supply-chain risk and needs of the drug giants.
And it’s why the US is going to see a flurry of construction activity — and the headwinds that will come with it.
Bryan Northrop, Skanska (SKBSY) USA building national executive adviser for science and technology, told Yahoo Finance the announcements signal a “substantial amount of work for all these companies to undertake in the US in the same timeframe.”
Laks Pernenkil, principal and practice leader of US life sciences at Deloitte, said that the construction industry has already been facing delays in current building projects — preceding the election and subsequent tariffs.
At a conference he attended in October, Pernenkil said one of the biggest questions plaguing pharma leaders is, “With all of us making all these announcements, can the construction industry keep up with the demand that’s coming down the pike?”
The new manufacturing announcements could turn into a high-stakes competition for pharma companies hoping to get the best teams assigned to their projects.
With plans in the works for years before the announcements, drugmakers were already looking at factors like location, material costs, and labor.
What they probably didn’t plan for is the cost and time crunch that Trump’s tariffs and immigration policies have created, experts said.
With the cost of steel and aluminum increased due to the tariffs, plus disruptions in immigration visa processing, the construction industry is feeling the pain. Romero noted that overall, construction prices are up 45% since 2020, after a brief decline post-pandemic.
All of that will add to more costs and possible delays.
“We may see more pauses of projects if it’s harder to attract people to work sites, and on top of that, there’s that pausing of immigration into the country,” Romero said.
Pharmaceutical technician’s hands seen in a special laboratory while holding and controlling red and black pills in a sieve during usual procedure after production of the drugs. ·EXTREME-PHOTOGRAPHER via Getty Images
“This is a very interesting historical nexus of events coming together at the same time,” said Arda Ural, Americas life sciences leader at EY.
Each company has a different level of exposure to the problems, since each company has a different project size and scope, he said.
It’s why the new announcements are going to add even more pressure to the construction industry.
Jennie Taveras, vice president and life science sector lead at STO Building Group, said she anticipates a lot more collaboration between bigger construction firms and smaller ones.
“Even the largest builders are going to need help and partners for these accelerated timelines,” she said.
This industrial manufacturing plant flies the american flag out front proudly ·Amanda Wayne via Getty Images
Will this construction rush bring manufacturing back, or even surpass, its historical high in the US? That’s a debate.
Legacy hubs included the northeast of the US, particularly the tristate area and Boston; North Carolina’s “research triangle”; the West Coast; and Chicago. But lately, Ohio, Georgia, Texas, and even Florida have cropped up as potential locations for new sites. And in the Midwest, Indianapolis is booming thanks to the investment of Eli Lilly, maker of one of the leading blockbuster weight-loss drugs, Zepbound.
Manning those facilities is another consideration for drugmakers, because they need highly skilled labor. But the labor requirements of running these sites are one-fourth of what they used to be, thanks to automation and robotics, according to Deloitte’s Pernenkil. So maybe a staff of 1,000, of which a small percentage need to be highly skilled, is needed rather than 4,000.
“I don’t think they will all go to legacy pharma hubs. They will spread out in the US, which is what the [Trump] administration is trying to do,” Pernenkil said.
But Skanska’s Northrop said it isn’t likely to spread to states that aren’t already home to at least one site or planned site.
“You could stand up a plant in the middle of nowhere because it’s cheap land and cheap labor to build the facility,” he said. “But if you can’t get the right workforce to operate it successfully, it’s a no-win situation.”
Anjalee Khemlani is the senior health reporter at Yahoo Finance, covering all things pharma, insurance, care services, digital health, PBMs, and health policy and politics. That includes GLP-1s, of course. Follow Anjalee as AnjKhem on social media platforms X, LinkedIn, and Bluesky @AnjKhem.
The social media-driven feud between President Donald Trump and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk may have simmered down a bit, with the rhetoric cooling and Musk even deleting some of his ill-considered posts about Trump from X and then apologizing for them.
But the shockwaves generated by the tit-for-tat insults and threats still reverberate through NASA and the commercial space sector.
When Trump threatened to pull all of SpaceX’s government contracts and Musk responded by threatening to decommission the Dragon spacecraft, an apocalyptic scenario that would have cripped NASA loomed. Fortunately, both men have since backed off.
Even so, according to the Washington Post, NASA and the Defense Department are quietly urging commercial space companies to hurry the development of hardware that can compete with what SpaceX has to offer.
Encouraging competition with SpaceX is sound policy regardless of the relationship between Trump and Musk. However, that competition is months, if not years, in the future.
The next flight of the Boeing Starliner, which failed so spectacularly in 2024, will be early next year at the earliest. The Blue Origin New Glenn, an answer to the SpaceX Falcon family of rockets, may launch once more this year and is a long way from achieving Falcon-level launch cadence.
It is in Trump’s and Musk’s interests, and that of the American space effort, that both men repair their relationship and move on.
One of the issues that drove Trump and Musk apart was Trump’s abrupt and inexplicable withdrawal of the nomination of Jared Isaacman, a billionaire entrepreneur and private space traveler, for NASA administrator. Musk had championed Isaacman, who is well regarded in the aerospace community, and took it to heart when Trump changed his mind about his own nominee.
The resulting leadership vacuum at NASA is being filled by Congress. The Senate Commerce Committee, chaired by Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas), has offered its own ideas for a NASA budget. The Senate Commerce document is at odds with the White House proposal in one important aspect. Whereas the Trump budget eliminates the Space Launch System after Artemis III and the Lunar Gateway, Senate Commerce would retain the massive, expensive rocket at least through Artemis V and would build the Gateway to support future Artemis missions. A NASA administrator such as Isaacman would be able to argue for the White House’s approach.
As for Isaacman, some people in the MAGA world, no doubt stung by the near-universal outrage sparked by his treatment at the hands of the White House, have started to trash the former nominee in the media.
A recent Daily Caller story quoted unnamed White House officials accusing Isaacman of not only giving money to Democrats but of supporting diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives at his companies and in his private spaceflights. But both of these facts were known when Isaacman was nominated.
According to the story, the officials said, “Isaacman would have been a black spot on an administration otherwise filled with Republican Trump supporters or, at least, individuals like Robert F. Kennedy Jr. who backed the president prior to the election.”
To hear these unnamed sources talk, Isaacman is no better than left-wing House members Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.), Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.) and their Squad.
It should be noted that even if Isaacman wanted to impose DEI policies at NASA, he couldn’t because of Trump’s executive order prohibiting it across the federal government.
Isaacman posted to X in his own defense: “I am a moderate and donated to both parties for different reasons … my largest contribution was to President Trump — because I support many of his policies. I definitely did not like the direction this country was going over the last 4 years.”
He went on to state, “I have never spoken against the President. I have never voted against him.”
It sounds like Isaacman is very loyal to Trump, remarkable under the circumstances. The suggestion of disloyalty is spurious and against the White House’s interests.
Isaacman’s situation could provide the basis of a rapprochement between Trump and Musk. Musk has already apologized to the president for some of his posts on X, particularly the one suggesting that Trump is named in the Department of Justice’s files on Jeffrey Epstein.
But the president should admit fault as well. He was deceived by some of his staff about Isaacman’s character. If it is not too late, he should reverse himself a second time and send his fellow billionaire’s name back into nomination.
NASA, the U.S., and the Trump-Musk partnership would gain as a result.
Rachel Reeves has insisted ministers “never dismissed the concerns of victims” of grooming gangs, as she defended the decision to launch a national inquiry after months of pressure.
The chancellor said Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer was focused on victims “and not grandstanding”.
Sir Keir has faced criticism for resisting calls for such an inquiry, with the Conservatives claiming they forced him into a U-turn.
Former detective Maggie Oliver, who resigned from Greater Manchester Police over the way grooming cases were handled in Rochdale, said the Conservatives and Labour had both been “dragged kicking and screaming to this point”.
The prime minister said on Saturday he had read an independent report into child sexual exploitation by Baroness Louise Casey and would accept her recommendation for an inquiry, covering England and Wales.
The report is expected to be published on Monday and Home Secretary Yvette Cooper is set to address the findings of the review in Parliament.
At the start of the year, the government dismissed calls for a national inquiry.
Sir Keir and other ministers argued the issue had already been examined in a seven-year inquiry led by Professor Alexis Jay.
Appearing on the BBC’s Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg programme, Reeves was asked whether the prime minister had been wrong to initially resist the idea.
She replied: “We’ve never dismissed the concerns of victims. These are the most important people in those discussions.”
Reeves said the government had been focused on implementing the recommendations of Professor Jay’s review.
“But the prime minister wanted to assure himself he was doing everything that was necessary, which is why he asked Baroness Casey to do this rapid review,” she added.
When asked if Sir Keir had changed his mind on the need for a national inquiry, Reeves replied: “Our prime minister has always been really focused on the victims, and not grandstanding but actually doing the practical things to ensure something like this never happens again.”
Ms Oliver said the inquiry was “an important step on the journey to change” and that Baroness Casey’s report would “lift the lid on what has been going on”.
But she said Labour and the Conservatives had “equally failed” to confront the issue of grooming gangs, so “won’t get a single bit of thanks” from her.
“For me, I can only look at them with contempt, because I see on the ground the suffering that their neglect has caused,” she added.
Appearing on the same programme, shadow chancellor Sir Mel Stride said the decision to launch the inquiry should have happened “far, far earlier”.
He said the Conservatives had been “calling for this for many, many months” and accused Sir Keir of dismissing their concerns as “some kind of far-right bandwagon”.
“That was the wrong response,” Stride said. “This is just another example of the prime minister being pressurised by us into U-turning.”
The National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children (NSPCC) said it was pleased the prime minister accepted the recommendations of Baroness Casey’s report.
But the charity’s chief executive Chris Sherwood said “a national inquiry into abuse by organised networks must not delay urgent action on child sexual abuse that is long overdue”.
He said survivors had already waited more than two years for the recommendations from Professor Jay’s report to be implemented.
Professor Jay’s inquiry found institutional failings, with tens of thousands of victims across England and Wales.
The seven-year investigation concluded child sexual abuse was “epidemic” across the two nations and made 20 recommendations in the final report published in 2022.
The grooming gangs issue was thrust into the spotlight at the start of this year, fuelled partly by tech billionaire Elon Musk, who criticised Sir Keir for not calling a national inquiry.
A row between the two centred on high-profile cases where groups of men, mainly of Pakistani descent, were convicted of sexually abusing and raping predominantly young white girls in towns such as Rotherham and Rochdale.
In January, the government stopped short of launching a statutory national inquiry into grooming gangs, despite the idea receiving support from some Labour MPs.
The statutory inquiry now backed by the prime minister will be able to compel witnesses to provide evidence.
The government has already announced plans for five local inquiries, to be held in Oldham and four other areas yet to be named.
A senior government source said the national inquiry would “co-ordinate a series of targeted local investigations”.
The UK has advised Britons against all travel to Israel amid an escalation in the country’s military activity with Iran.
The Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office advice, which covers Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territories, comes as missiles have been launched by both countries in recent days with Israeli airspace remaining closed.
The advice warns of a “fast-moving situation that poses significant risks”.
“The situation has the potential to deteriorate further, quickly and without warning,” it said.
Those already in Israel or the Occupied Territories have been told to follow the advice of local authorities.
The new notice from the FCDO referred to the risks of regional escalation.
Previous advice had told Britons to avoid “all travel to parts of Israel”.
This was updated to warn against “all but essential travel” to the country after a state of emergency was declared on 13 June.
Foreign Secretary David Lammy posted on X: “My message to British nationals there is clear – your safety remains our top priority.”
The FCDO also advises against all travel to Iran.
Israel launched a new attack on Iran on the night of 12 June, saying its targets were military infrastructure including nuclear sites.
Iran subsequently launched retaliatory airstrikes with tensions proceeding to escalate between the two countries.
Areas of Bat Yam and Tamra were hit by Iranian missiles on Saturday night, while the Israeli military said they struck more than 80 targets in Tehran overnight.
Over the weekend, the UK government confirmed it was sending more RAF jets to the Middle East – a move the chancellor described as a “precautionary measure”.
Meanwhile, oil prices surged on Friday after concerns the conflict could disrupt supplies coming from the energy-rich region.
In the build up to the WTC final, who would open the batting alongside Khawaja against South Africa was a source of national debate Down Under.
Nathan McSweeney, Travis Head, Sam Konstas and Steve Smith have all been tried recently.
Marnus Labuschagne was handed the role at Lord’s but modest returns of 17 and 22 are unlikely to settle the debate.
McDonald said the 30-year-old is still a “big part of the future of the team” even though he has “missed out on some scores”.
“At the moment, he’ll be disappointed with the returns,” added the Aussie coach.
“We’re confident he can return to his best and that’s why we keep picking him. And at what point do we stop picking him?”
If the Labuschagne experiment has already been deemed a failure, then he may revert back to three with Konstas looking likely to come in.
Cameron Green, who looked woefully out of his depth batting at three, will likely drop back down the order.
There’s been a lot of chopping and changing with Australia’s top order and they have three Tests to try to settle on a formula that works.
“I was on the record a couple of weeks ago talking about the need to bed down that opening combination,” said McDonald.
“We’ve had a bit of musical chairs there so now might be the time.
“We’ve got a problem to solve around what the best order is and I think it will continue to create debate even when we settle on a top order because that’s the nature of the Australian cricket team.”
Doctors in India say 270 bodies have been recovered from the site of Thursday’s plane crash in Ahmedabad.
The London-bound aircraft crashed into a residential area shortly after take-off killing all but one of the 242 passengers and crew members, a 40-year-old British man.
Officials have also been trying to establish how many people were killed on the ground and have been continuing the slow process of matching DNA samples to confirm the victims’ identities.
Vigils honouring the dead have taken place across India and the UK.
India’s Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau (AAIB) is leading the inquiry into the cause of the crash, helped by teams from the US and UK.
On Friday, a black box was found at the site of the crash which India’s civil aviation minister, Ram Mohan Naidu Kinjarapu, said would “significantly aid the inquiry” into the disaster.
Less than 60 seconds after leaving Ahmedabad’s Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel International Airport, the plane lost altitude and crashed into a building that was used as doctors’ accommodation at the BJ Medical College and Civil Hospital.
On Saturday, the President of the Junior Doctors’ Association of the college, Dr Dhaval Gameti, confirmed the hospital had received the bodies of 270 victims.
Of those, 241 are believed to be passengers and crew of Flight AI171.
More than thirty victims have also been formally identified using DNA samples provided by relatives.
According to data by tracking website, Flightradar24, the Boeing Dreamliner 787-8 was 11 years old and had operated 25 flights from Ahmedabad to London Gatwick in the past two years.
In response to Thursday’s crash, India’s aviation regulator, the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA), ordered additional safety checks on Air India’s Boeing 787-8 and 787-9 fleet, describing it as a “preventive measure”.
India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi spent around 20 minutes walking around the site of the plane crash on Friday.
He also visited the hospital to meet some of those injured in the disaster, including the sole plane survivor Vishwashkumar Ramesh, later saying that “the entire nation is praying for their speedy recovery”.
Air India CEO Campbell Wilson also went to the crash site on Friday and described the visit as “deeply moving”.
More RAF jets are being sent to the Middle East amid intense fighting between Israel and Iran, the prime minister has said.
Sir Keir Starmer said the military aircraft, including Typhoons and air-to-air refuelers, were being sent “for contingency support across the region”.
He said the situation was fast-moving and there were ongoing discussions with allies, adding: “The constant message is de-escalate.”
The UK last announced it had deployed jets to the region last year, when the government said British aircraft had been playing a role in preventing escalation.
Sir Keir made the remarks as he travelled to Canada for the G7 summit, where he said the weekend’s “intense” developments would be further discussed.
He later met Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney – a former Bank of England governor – in Ottawa for talks on security and trade.
Both will head later to the Canadian province of Alberta for the summit, with the Middle East uppermost on the agenda.
German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, French President Emmanuel Macron and US President Donald Trump are among those gathering there for three days of talks.
The prime minister is neither ruling in nor out the prospect of British jets helping Israel – as happened in both April and October last year.
Iran has warned the UK, France and America that were they to support Israel, their ships and bases in the region would be regarded as legitimate targets.
“We’ve already been moving assets to the region, including jets, and that is for contingency support across the region,” Sir Keir told reporters.
“Our constant message is de-escalate, and therefore everything we’re doing, all discussions we’re having are to do with de-escalation.”
The prime minister would not be drawn on whether the UK would be involved in defending Israel.
“I had a good and constructive discussion with Prime Minister [Benjamin] Netanyahu yesterday [Friday], and that included discussions about the safety and security of Israel, as you would expect, between two allies,” he said.
He reiterated that the UK had “long-standing concerns” about Iran’s nuclear programme and recognised Israel’s right to self-defence.
Iran has threatened to target UK, French and US military bases in the region if they offer Israel help to stop Tehran’s strikes.
Sir Keir spoke to Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman on Saturday afternoon, Downing Street said.
“They discussed the gravely concerning situation in the Middle East and agreed on the need to de-escalate,” a spokesman said.
Tensions between Israel and Iran have ramped up in recent days.
Iran launched a fresh attack on Israel on Saturday night, while the Israeli military said it was continuing to strike military targets in Tehran.
Iran’s President Masoud Pezeshkian has threatened a “more severe” response if Israel doesn’t stand down. Israel’s Defence Minister Israel Katz earlier warned that “Tehran will burn” if Iran continues to launch missiles.
Iranian state TV reported 60 people had been killed in a strike in Tehran, while in Israel, officials said three people had been killed and dozens injured in strikes.
Washington DC and Tehran were due to resume talks on Iran’s nuclear programme on Sunday, but the talks have now been cancelled, mediator Oman said.
The prime minister has announced there will be a full national statutory inquiry into grooming gangs.
Sir Keir Starmer said he had accepted the recommendations of an audit by Baroness Louise Casey into the data and evidence on the nature and scale of group-based child sexual abuse.
Baroness Casey has recommended a national inquiry is required, he said. The inquiry will cover England and Wales.
For months, Sir Keir has faced criticism for not being willing to set one up.
But speaking to reporters on his way to the G7 summit, which begins in Canada tomorrow, the prime minister said: “I’ve never said we should not look again at any issue.”
He added that Baroness Casey had originally thought a new inquiry was not necessary, but she had changed her mind having looked into it in recent months.
“She’s come to the view there should be a national inquiry on the basis of what she’s seen,” Sir Keir said.
“I’ve read every single word of her report, and I’m going to accept her recommendation.
“I think that’s the right thing to do, on the basis of what she has put in her audit.
“I asked her to do that job, to double-check on this.
“She’s done that job for me, and having read her report… I shall now implement her recommendation.”
He added that it “will take a bit of time” to set up the inquiry, but added that “it will be statutory under the Inquiries Act”.
A senior government source said the inquiry would “co-ordinate a series of targeted local investigations”.
This will include new local investigations, which will take place even if local authorities don’t want one.
The local investigations will have the power to compel evidence to be given and witnesses to appear.
Home Secretary Yvette Cooper is expected to make a statement in the Commons on Monday, and Baroness Casey’s report will be published alongside this.
The grooming gangs issue was thrust into the spotlight at the start of this year, fuelled partly by tech billionaire Elon Musk, who criticised the prime minister for not calling a national inquiry.
A row between the two centred on high-profile cases where groups of men, mainly of Pakistani descent, were convicted of sexually abusing and raping predominantly young white girls in towns such as Rotherham and Rochdale.
Instead, Cooper announced a “rapid” three-month audit, led by Baroness Casey, into the data and evidence on the nature and scale of group-based child sexual abuse.
Cooper said the review would include examining the demographics of the gangs and their victims, as well as “cultural drivers” behind the offending.
The home secretary also unveiled plans for five government-backed local inquiries – to be held in Oldham and four other areas yet to be named.
Baroness Casey’s review, which began in January, was due to take three months and had been delayed.
Earlier this month, Home Office Minister Jess Phillips apologised for the delay, saying Baroness Casey had requested a “short extension” and that the report was expected “very shortly”.
The Conservatives have long been calling for a nationwide inquiry into grooming gangs, with the power to compel people to give evidence.
Reacting to Saturday’s announcement, the party’s leader, Kemi Badenoch, said: “Keir Starmer doesn’t know what he thinks unless an official report has told him so.
“Just like he dismissed concerns about the winter fuel payment and then had to U-turn.
“I’ve been repeatedly calling for a full national inquiry since January.
“It’s about time he recognised he made a mistake and apologise for six wasted months.”
Reform UK leader Nigel Farage called the decision “a welcome U-turn”.
In a post on X, Farage wrote: “A full statutory enquiry, done correctly, will expose the multiple failings of the British establishment. I repeat the words ‘done correctly’ – this cannot be a whitewash.
“It’s time for victims to receive the justice they deserve and for perpetrators to face the full force of the law.”
Former Reform UK MP Rupert Lowe said on X that “none of this” would have happened without Elon Musk, writing: “No inquiry, no justice, nothing.”
Renewed Iranian missile attacks on Israel have killed at least ten people overnight. More than a hundred others were injured and several people are missing.
Iran’s foreign minister has said that strikes on Israel would end once it halts its military campaign.
In Iran, state media has made no mention of casualties from Israeli attacks, which included a strike on the Shahran oil depot.
