Pharma Campus Wave: Five U.S. Drug Plant Projects Total $13.15 Billion

Between September 21 and October 14, 2026, five drugmakers broke ground on or announced U.S. pharmaceutical manufacturing and research campus projects worth a combined $13.15 billion or more. The projects are in Texas, Oregon, Ohio and Pennsylvania, and two of them are already under construction.

The common thread is scale at a single site. Each project concentrates drug substance production, finished product work, quality labs or research on one campus rather than spreading it across several plants. Each was announced by the company or a state government during the three-week window, and each carries a stated dollar figure.

The Five Projects at a Glance

• Lilly Houston API and advanced therapeutics site, Generation Park, Houston, Texas. Owner: Eli Lilly and Company. Contractor: not named. Value: $6.5 billion. Status: broke ground September 21, 2026 (Eli Lilly and Company).
• Merck West Point and Spring House expansion, Montgomery County, Pennsylvania. Owner: Merck. Contractor: not named. Value: $2.9 billion through 2030. Status: announced October 14, 2026, as the ADVANCE research facility opened (Office of Gov. Josh Shapiro).
• Bayer New Albany pharmaceutical campus, New Albany, Ohio. Owner: Bayer. Contractor: not selected; Fluor is handling early design. Value: $2.2 billion. Status: announced October 2, 2026, construction expected to start in mid-2027 (Bayer, ENR).
• GSK Upper Merion biopharmaceutical hub, Upper Merion Township, Pennsylvania. Owner: GSK. Contractor: not named. Value: more than $800 million. Status: announced October 9, 2026, construction planned to begin in 2027 (Office of Gov. Josh Shapiro).
• Genentech Hillsboro device fill-finish expansion, Hillsboro, Oregon. Owner: Genentech, a member of the Roche Group. Contractor: not named. Value: $750 million. Status: broke ground September 28, 2026 (Business Wire).

How the Total Was Calculated

The $13.15 billion figure is the simple sum of the headline value each owner or state government gave for its project: $6.5 billion for Lilly, $2.9 billion for Merck, $2.2 billion for Bayer, $800 million for GSK and $750 million for Genentech. GSK's figure is stated as "over $800 million," so the combined total is a floor. The Merck figure is the state's number for the full Montgomery County commitment through 2030. Merck's own release puts about $550 million of it toward research facilities at ADVANCE and the nearby Spring House Innovation Park and does not break out the rest (Merck). No project is counted twice, and older multi-site commitments by the same companies are not included.

Lilly: $6.5 Billion in Houston

Lilly broke ground September 21 on its Houston site, which will make active pharmaceutical ingredients for Foundayo (orforglipron), its oral GLP-1 medicine, along with other small-molecule medicines and advanced therapeutics including oligonucleotides (Eli Lilly and Company). The company says the project will create more than 600 permanent jobs and about 4,000 construction jobs, and that it is one of ten U.S. manufacturing sites Lilly has announced since 2020 (Eli Lilly and Company).

The site is in Generation Park, a 4,300-acre master-planned development in northeast Houston by McCord Development (REBusiness Online). REBusiness Online described the facility as 1 million square feet, and CultureMap Houston reported a 236-acre site expected to come online in 2030 (CultureMap Houston). Lilly's release does not state the size or an opening date. No contractor or design firm has been named publicly (Bisnow).

Pennsylvania: Merck and GSK in Montgomery County

Two of the five projects sit a few miles apart in Montgomery County. Merck's $2.9 billion commitment runs through the end of 2030 and covers expanded manufacturing and medicine discovery at its West Point campus, according to the governor's office, which also proposed a $5 million Redevelopment Assistance Capital Program grant for the first West Point projects (Office of Gov. Josh Shapiro). ADVANCE, the robotics and AI-enabled research lab that opened October 14, is about 120,000 square feet, and the West Point site covers about 400 acres (Supply Chain 24/7). Merck says past West Point capital work has supported an on-site workforce of about 800 people in contracting, engineering and construction roles (Supply Chain 24/7). More detail is in WCG's earlier post on the Merck West Point commitment.

GSK's project in Upper Merion Township involves demolishing existing buildings and building new or upgraded facilities: a commercial-scale biologics plant, a co-located research and development pilot plant, a centralized quality control lab and a manufacturing science and technology hub (Office of Gov. Josh Shapiro). The state says the work will create more than 300 jobs over five years and help retain about 4,500 GSK jobs in Pennsylvania, with construction planned to begin in 2027 (Office of Gov. Josh Shapiro). Square footage has not been disclosed (Pharma Manufacturing). See WCG's post on the GSK Upper Merion campus.

Bayer: $2.2 Billion in New Albany

Bayer's campus in the New Albany International Business Park will combine drug substance and drug product manufacturing in two modules. The first is expected to operate in 2031 and the second in 2034 (Bayer). The state puts the jobs at about 600 permanent positions and about 1,500 construction jobs (Office of Gov. Mike DeWine).

ENR reported that the site covers about 110 acres with an option on 85 more, that Fluor helped with site selection and is handling early design, and that no detailed design firm, construction manager or general contractor has been chosen. Bayer expects to set its procurement approach in early 2027 (ENR). WCG covered the announcement in its post on the Bayer New Albany campus.

Genentech: $750 Million in Hillsboro

Genentech broke ground September 28 on a 211,000-square-foot expansion that will roughly double its Hillsboro site and add device fill-finish work: filling and inspection, device assembly and packaging, cold storage and quality control (Business Wire). The company expects about 250 permanent jobs, about 200 construction jobs and commercial operations in 2031 (Pharma Manufacturing). The groundbreaking was also part of WCG's late September plant investment roundup.

What Is Driving the Wave

These projects are pieces of much larger corporate programs. Lilly describes Houston as part of a $50 billion U.S. manufacturing expansion (Construction Equipment Guide), and Merck ties its research spending to a previously announced commitment of more than $70 billion to U.S. manufacturing and research (Merck). WCG's May overview of pharmaceutical onshoring described the same pattern at an earlier stage.

States are competing for the work with tax tools and training money. GSK is eligible for Pennsylvania's QMIRD deduction and Manufacturing Tax Credit (Office of Gov. Josh Shapiro). Bayer will seek an Ohio Job Creation Tax Credit, and JobsOhio is putting up to $30 million into a life science training center set to open in summer 2027 (Office of Gov. Mike DeWine). Lilly is providing $12.5 million to support a relationship with San Jacinto College (Eli Lilly and Company).

Implications for Owners, Developers, Contractors and Subs

• Procurement windows are open. Bayer has not picked a construction manager or general contractor and plans to define its approach in early 2027 (ENR). GSK also starts in 2027. Firms that want this work should be qualifying now.
• Labor demand is large and overlapping. Lilly alone cites about 4,000 construction jobs and Bayer about 1,500. Process piping, electrical, controls and cleanroom trades will be stretched where several campuses build at once.
• Brownfield work matters. GSK's plan starts with demolition on an operating campus, and Merck and Genentech are expanding active sites. Phasing around live operations, quality systems and validation will shape bids as much as square footage.
• Long schedules. First production dates run from 2030 to 2034. Owners and lenders should plan for escalation and staged packages rather than a single award.

What to Watch

• Contractor and design team awards for Bayer, GSK and Lilly, none of which have been announced.
• Whether Merck breaks out dollar figures and schedules for the manufacturing portion of its $2.9 billion plan.
• Ohio Tax Credit Authority action on Bayer's Job Creation Tax Credit request.
• Further site announcements under Lilly's and Merck's larger U.S. programs.

Bottom Line

In just over three weeks, five drugmakers put at least $13.15 billion behind U.S. manufacturing and research campuses, with two already in the ground and three heading toward 2027 starts. For builders with life sciences experience, the next twelve months are about positioning for the procurement decisions that have not yet been made.

Image credit: Rendering of Lilly's Houston manufacturing site. Source: Eli Lilly and Company, via its September 21, 2026 groundbreaking release.

Sources

• Eli Lilly and Company, "Lilly breaks ground in Houston, one of ten U.S. manufacturing sites announced since 2020," https://investor.lilly.com/news-releases/news-release-details/lilly-breaks-ground-houston-one-ten-us-manufacturing-sites
• REBusiness Online, "Eli Lilly Breaks Ground on $6.5B GLP-1 Manufacturing Facility in Northeast Houston," https://rebusinessonline.com/eli-lilly-breaks-ground-on-6-5b-glp-1-manufacturing-facility-in-northeast-houston/
• CultureMap Houston, "Eli Lilly breaks ground on $6.5 billion Houston pharmaceutical plant," https://houston.culturemap.com/news/innovation/eli-lilly-houston-factory-groundbreaking/
• Bisnow, "Eli Lilly Starts Building Record $6.5B Houston Manufacturing Facility," https://www.bisnow.com/news/houston/construction-development/eli-lilly-breaks-ground-record-breaking-manufacturing-facility-generation-park
• Construction Equipment Guide, "Lilly Begins On $6.5B Houston Manufacturing Facility," https://www.constructionequipmentguide.com/lilly-begins-on-65b-houston-manufacturing-facility/72483
• Office of Gov. Josh Shapiro, "Governor Shapiro Secures $2.9 Billion Investment from Merck to Expand Vaccine and Medicine Manufacturing Operations in Montgomery County," https://www.pa.gov/governor/newsroom/2026-press-releases/gov--shapiro-secures-investment-to-expand-operations-in-montgome
• Merck, "Merck Inaugurates State-of-the-Art ADVANCE Bioanalytical Facility on West Point, Pennsylvania, Campus," https://www.merck.com/news/merck-inaugurates-state-of-the-art-advance-bioanalytical-facility-on-west-point-pennsylvania-campus/
• Supply Chain 24/7, "Merck Commits $2.9 Billion to Pennsylvania Vaccine and Drug Sites," https://www.supplychain247.com/article/merck-pennsylvania-expansion-west-point/witron
• Office of Gov. Josh Shapiro, "Gov. Shapiro Secures Investment from GSK Growing Life Sciences Industry," https://www.pa.gov/governor/newsroom/2026-press-releases/gov--shapiro-secures-investment-from-gsk-growing-life-sciences-i
• Pharma Manufacturing, "GSK commits $800M to Pennsylvania biomanufacturing expansion," https://www.pharmamanufacturing.com/industry-news/news/55411130/gsk-commits-800m-to-pennsylvania-biomanufacturing-expansion
• Bayer, "Bayer to invest 2.2 billion U.S. dollars in a new manufacturing site in the United States," https://www.bayer.com/media/en-us/bayer-to-invest-2-billion-us-dollars-in-a-new-manufacturing-site-in-the-united-states/
• Office of Gov. Mike DeWine, "Bayer to Invest $2.2 Billion in New Manufacturing Site in Ohio," https://governor.ohio.gov/media/news-and-media/bayer-to-invest-2-2-billion-in-new-manufacturing-site-in-ohio
• ENR, "Bayer Sets $2.2B Ohio Pharma Campus for 2027 Start," https://www.enr.com/articles/63773-bayer-sets-22b-ohio-pharma-campus-for-2027-start
• Business Wire, "Genentech Breaks Ground on $750 Million Manufacturing Expansion in Hillsboro, Oregon," https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20260928061898/en/Genentech-Breaks-Ground-on-%24750-Million-Manufacturing-Expansion-in-Hillsboro-Oregon
• Pharma Manufacturing, "Genentech breaks ground on $750M Oregon manufacturing expansion," https://www.pharmamanufacturing.com/industry-news/news/55408778/genentech-breaks-ground-on-750m-oregon-manufacturing-expansion