Johnson & Johnson on Feb. 18 announced it would invest more than $1 billion in a next-generation cell therapy manufacturing facility in Montgomery, Pennsylvania, that will create new medicines to treat cancer, and neurological and immune-related diseases.
The facility expands upon Johnson & Johnson’s extensive footprint in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, where it operates 10 facilities spanning more than 2 million square feet. Johnson & Johnson subsidiary Janssen Biotech will operate the new facility in Lower Gwynedd Township in Montgomery County, north of downtown Philadelphia.
The facility is expected to create more than 500 biomanufacturing jobs when fully operational, and 4,000 trades jobs during construction.
“By uniting scientific excellence with state-of-the-art manufacturing and strategic investment, and by working collaboratively with our communities, we are delivering for patients and creating significant opportunities for workers and families,” Johnson & Johnson Chairman and CEO Joaquin Duato said in a statement.
Johnson & Johnson’s newest facility is part of a planned $55 billion investment announced in March to expand its manufacturing and research and development footprint in the United States.
It also comes on the heels of Eli Lilly’s announcement on Jan. 31 that it would invest more than $3.5 billion to create a new injectable medicine and device manufacturing facility in Lehigh Valley, Pennsylvania.
Johnson & Johnson received $41.5 million from the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania in support of the new facility. The company also received a funding proposal for as much as $12 million in tax credits from the state’s Department of Community and Economic Development’s Qualified Manufacturing Innovation and Reinvestment Deduction program, as well as an additional $2 million in tax credits through the state’s Manufacturing Tax Credit program, which provides tax credits for companies that boost their annual taxable payrolls by at least $1 million through the creation of new full-time jobs.
Johnson & Johnson also received a $15 million grant from the Pennsylvania Strategic Investments to Enhance Sites program and a $10 million grant from Pennsylvania First.
Rick Siger, secretary of the state’s economic development agency, said the new facility expands the state’s life sciences ecosystem.
“We value Johnson & Johnson’s longtime partnership here in Pennsylvania,” Siger said in a statement.
“This announcement also sends a clear message that Pennsylvania is competing—and winning—when it comes to attracting world-class life sciences companies, growing high-quality jobs, and driving long-term economic growth across the Commonwealth.”
Pennsylvania’s burgeoning life sciences sector employs more than 100,000 people across nearly 3,100 companies, the state said. The sector is expected to add more than 6,500 new jobs over the next decade, with nearly two-thirds in research and development.
Notable companies in the sector include Bayer, which operates facilities in Pittsburgh and Myerstown, and Sanofi, which operates a multi-building flu vaccine development and filling campus in Swiftwater. Merck’s facilities in Upper Gwynedd serve as U.S. headquarters for its human health division, while its manufacturing facility in West Point is its largest manufacturing site in the United States.
Life Sciences companies in the state are primarily clustered in the Greater Philadelphia and Pittsburgh metropolitan areas, although Allentown, Erie, and Harrisburg also have a significant presence in the sector.
