AbbVie Invests $380M to Expand Illinois Manufacturing for Neuroscience, Obesity Meds

AbbVie on Monday said it would invest $380 million to build two new active pharmaceutical ingredient manufacturing facilities at its Illinois campus, expanding its domestic production capacity for its neuroscience and obesity medicines.

The investment is part of AbbVie’s broader effort to scale up domestic manufacturing, as drugmakers are scrambling to shore up their U.S. manufacturing capacity and domestic inventory amid the Trump administration’s hefty tariffs on pharmaceutical imports into the country.

The U.S. government imposed a 100% tariff on branded drugs in October, but said it would only apply to producers who had not already broken ground on U.S. manufacturing plants.

AbbVie said the construction at the new facility in North Chicago, Illinois would begin in spring 2026, with both new facilities expected to be fully operational in 2029.

The new facilities will integrate advanced manufacturing technologies and artificial intelligence to support production of future pipeline medicines, the company said.

API production – the process of making a drug’s active chemical components – is one of the most complex steps in pharmaceutical manufacturing, the drugmaker said.

AbbVie said it plans to hire 300 people in North Chicago, including engineers, scientists, manufacturing operators and lab technicians.

In January, it committed $100 billion over the next decade to U.S.-based research and development, including an earlier $195 million expansion at the same North Chicago site to boost API production for immunology, oncology and neuroscience drugs.

AbbVie already has 11 manufacturing sites in the U.S. and is also in discussions with multiple U.S. states about potential projects and expects to announce further investments in 2026.

(Reporting by Mahatole in Bengaluru; Editing by Maju Samuel)