WILSON, N.C. AND NEW BRUNSWICK, N.J. — Johnson & Johnson (NYSE: JNJ), has broken ground on a $2 billion pharmaceutical manufacturing facility in Wilson, about 50 miles east of Raleigh. The project is part of a larger, $55 billion investment in U.S. manufacturing, research-and-development (R&D) and technology initiatives that the global pharmaceutical, medical devices and consumer health products provider is planning over the next four years.
“Today’s announcements accelerate our nearly 140-year legacy as an American innovation engine tackling the world’s toughest healthcare challenges,” says Joaquin Duato, chairman and CEO of Johnson & Johnson. “Our increased U.S. investment begins with the ground-breaking of a high-tech facility in North Carolina that will not only add U.S.-based jobs but manufacture cutting-edge medicines to treat patients in America and around the world.”
The new manufacturing facility will span approximately 500,000 square feet and will create 5,000 construction jobs, as well as 500 specialized positions for employees and contractors, including process technicians, laboratory analysts, engineers and microbiologists.
Upon completion, Johnson & Johnson plans to produce medicines for people with cancer, immune-mediated and neurological diseases at the Wilson plant. The company estimates that the facility will have an economic impact of $3 billion in North Carolina during the first 10 years of operation. The construction timeline and the specific site for the development were not released.
In addition to the Wilson plant, Johnson & Johnson plans to develop three more advanced manufacturing facilities as part of its $55 billion U.S. investment. The specific sites for those three projects were also not released.
Other elements of the company’s four-year plan include R&D investments in medical practices including oncology and neuroscience, as well as increased investment in healthcare tech and general corporate technology for workforce training and business operations.
Johnson & Johnson was founded in 1886 and today employs 130,000 staffers globally. The company’s stock price closed on Friday, March 21 at $163.63 per share, up from $155.22 a year ago, a 5.4 percent increase.
— John Nelson