Novartis Strengthens American Manufacturing Leadership in Radioligand Therapy

Novartis’s new radioligand therapy facilities, including the Carlsbad, California site, expand domestic manufacturing to accelerate the delivery of breakthrough cancer treatments to American patients.

Novartis opened a new state-of-the-art radioligand therapy (RLT) manufacturing facility in Carlsbad, California, marking a major milestone in the company’s broader commitment to discovering, developing and manufacturing medicines in the United States. “As part of our $23 billion commitment to expand our manufacturing and research footprint, we are dedicated now to ensure that all of our key medicines are produced for the United States, in the United States,” said Vas Narasimhan, M.D., Novartis’s CEO.

A form of precision medicine, each dose of RLT is custom-made and time-sensitive, making proximity to patients and treatment centers critical. “We only have a few days from the moment you start producing to finalizing production to shipping it…to see the impact we have with those treatments on patients is just amazing,” explained Steffen Lang, Ph.D., Novartis’s President of Operations.

The Carlsbad location becomes Novartis’s third U.S.-based RLT manufacturing site, building the company’s U.S. footprint to meet future demand while reinforcing American leadership in radioligand innovation and infrastructure. Novartis has also announced a fourth U.S.-based RLT manufacturing facility in Winter Park, Florida, with a new 35,000-square-foot complex to serve patients across the southeastern U.S. Several months earlier, the company broke ground on its more than 700,000-square-foot flagship manufacturing hub in North Carolina.

Together these investments are creating high-quality jobs and spurring economic growth coast-to-coast, reflecting the biopharmaceutical industry’s broader commitment to investing in advanced manufacturing and bolstering local economies in communities across America.

By continuing to invest in U.S.-based innovation and manufacturing, Novartis is bringing life-changing cancer treatments closer to patients, and economic growth to communities.