Swiss pharma company Roche to invest US$50b in US

Swiss pharmaceuticals powerhouse Roche announced Tuesday it plans to invest US$50 billion in the United States over the next five years, creating 12,000 jobs.

The Basel-based company, whose array of products includes cancer medicines and multiple sclerosis treatment Ocrevus, said the investment would go toward high-tech research and development sites and new manufacturing facilities in places including California, Indiana, Massachusetts and Pennsylvania.

Some of the US$50 billion in investments were already under way or planned for the next several years, Roche spokesperson Rebekka Schnell said in an email, adding that the company was not specifying how much was announced for the first time on Tuesday.

Roche, in its statement, said that once the new, expanded manufacturing comes on line, the company “will export more medicines from the US than it imports” – but made no mention of tariffs.

Before the Trump administration backed off its most stringent tariff plans, products imported from Switzerland had been set to face tariffs of 31 per cent – more than the 20 per cent tariffs on goods from the European Union. Switzerland is not a member of the 27-country bloc but is virtually surrounded by four EU countries.

A week after the sweeping US tariffs announced on April 2, Trump spoke by phone with Swiss President Karin Keller-Sutter in a conversation that her office said focused on tariffs. She emphasised the “important role of Swiss companies and investments in the United States”.

Hours later, the US president announced the U-turn that paused the steep new tariffs on about 60 countries for 90 days, fanning speculation – which was not confirmed – in some Swiss media that her chat with Trump might have played a role in the change of course.

“Today’s announced investments underscore our long-standing commitment to research, development and manufacturing in the US,” said Roche CEO Thomas Schinecker in a statement about the five-year investment programme.

Company spokesperson Schnell, in the email, said “we have conducted a thorough analysis of potential scenarios over the last weeks and are well prepared to navigate them, apply mitigation measures and adapt to the changing environment.” She said the investments “have also been aligned with the Swiss government and form part of the ongoing discussions between the US and Switzerland.”

The company – like cross-town competitor Novartis – has deep ties to the US market and said it currently employs 25,000 people and operates 15 R&D centres and 13 manufacturing sites in the United States.

The planned investment will add 1,000 jobs at Roche in the US and “more than 11,000 in support of new US manufacturing capabilities,” it said, which will increase its footprint in the United States to 24 sites in eight states.

Roche tallied more than 60 billion Swiss francs (about US$74 billion) in worldwide sales last year, and nearly 25 billion francs of sales in its key pharmaceuticals division alone came in the United States. Roche’s share price has fallen by about 18 per cent over the past month, with most of the drop coming after the US tariff announcement on April 2.