Sanofi’s investment will support a Canadian site’s efforts to apply AI to drug production, while Amgen has unveiled the second expansion of its Puerto Rico plant in quick succession.
Big Pharmas Amgen and Sanofi are pumping more money into sites in North America, respectively committing $300 million to expand a biologics plant in Puerto Rico and $294 million to hire AI experts in Toronto.
California-based Amgen set up a production plant in Puerto Rico in 1992 and retained its presence on the island as tax changes drove the erosion of the local biopharma industry in the 2000s. With the White House pressuring drugmakers to reshore production, Amgen reaffirmed its commitment to Puerto Rico, an unincorporated U.S. territory, in September by unveiling a $650 million expansion plan.
Seven months after disclosing the plan, Amgen has vowed to invest a further $300 million in Puerto Rico. The outlay will add U.S.-based production capacity, enhance next-generation technologies and support a reliable supply of medicines for patients, Amgen said.
The $300 million will strengthen existing manufacturing roles and support workforce development, Amgen said. The company’s statement did not include information on how many jobs could be created through the investment. At the time, Amgen predicted the earlier $650 million investment would create nearly 750 jobs, including roles for construction workers.
Amgen’s additional investment moves the industry’s total commitment to Puerto Rico in the past year above $2 billion.
Meanwhile, Eli Lilly also unveiled a $1.2 billion investment in Puerto Rico in October and predicted it would create 100 manufacturing positions and about 1,000 construction roles. Millicent Manufacturing outlined plans to spend $46 million in August after acquiring a plant from Teva, and PharmaEssentia committed a similar amount in February to produce a treatment for a rare blood cancer. Millicent is the first new pharma company to establish a presence on the island in 15 years, Puerto Rico Governor Jenniffer González-Colón said in a statement at the time.
Elsewhere, Sanofi’s new investment will benefit its AI “center of excellence” in Toronto. The French drugmaker opened the site in 2022 as part of a push to use AI to accelerate drug development. With the new $294 million, Sanofi plans to create 50 jobs focused on developing AI tools for use in areas including manufacturing, adding to the more than 150 roles it has created at the site over the past four years.
The expansion follows Sanofi’s opening of a digital accelerator in France focused on manufacturing and supply. Sanofi staffed the French site with data scientists and software engineers, tasking them with developing virtual drug production simulations and technologies for real-time monitoring and predictive decision-making.
