Bayer announces $2.2 Billion investment in Ohio: Here’s what its new drug manufacturing plant will look like

The German pharmaceutical company Bayer announced Friday that it will build a drug manufacturing plant in New Albany, Ohio, with a $2.2 billion investment. The project will create about 600 skilled jobs and nearly 1,500 temporary construction jobs.

Specifically, the plant will initially focus on medications for cancer, heart disease, and kidney disease. Among the products supporting the investment, as reported by Reuters, are Kerendia, used to treat chronic kidney disease; Nubeqa, a prostate cancer drug; and asundexian, a drug in development aimed at preventing strokes.

The plant will also handle all stages of drug manufacturing: producing the active ingredient and then formulating it into a finished drug. Bayer will carry out both processes at this facility. According to a company statement, the part of the facility that produces the active ingredient is expected to begin operations in 2031, and the part that assembles the final drug is expected to come online in 2034.

Ohio Governor Mike DeWine made the announcement alongside JobsOhio, the state's economic development agency. "Bayer could have chosen anywhere in the United States, and it chose Ohio," the Republican governor said. "This project firmly solidifies Ohio's place among global biomanufacturing leaders as a destination for life sciences investment," he added.

"Bayer has long seen the United States as a key manufacturing base and innovation hub. This landmark investment underscores our commitment," Bill Anderson, CEO of Bayer, said. 

"The new site will be home to manufacturing expertise and a skilled workforce that will strengthen our ability to deliver innovative, high-quality medicines to patients both in the United States and abroad," he added.

The investment adds to more than $7 billion that Bayer has allocated to pharmaceutical research and production in the United States over the past five years. The new plant will complement its pharmaceutical headquarters in New Jersey and its other facilities in Pennsylvania, California, Massachusetts, and North Carolina.