Amgen to add 370 New Jobs in North Carolina With $1B Manufacturing Investment

Amgen on Thursday announced that it will pump $1 billion into its North Carolina operations to construct a new manufacturing facility that will create 370 new jobs in the region.

Details regarding the new facility, set to rise in Holly Springs, were scant: The pharma did not announce when construction activities are set to begin, nor did it disclose when it expects the new production plant to be operational. Amgen said in its announcement that the facility will be used to manufacture drug substances, but it did not reveal which specific products will be made.

“This expansion underscores our unwavering focus on bringing transformative medicines to patients around the world,” CEO Robert Bradway said in the company’s announcement.

Thursday’s investment follows Amgen’s previous $550 million commitment to North Carolina, announced in March 2022, which also went toward the construction of a biomanufacturing facility. The new North Carolina site also follows the opening of another manufacturing site in Ohio in February 2024—infrastructure that increased the pharma’s headcount in that state by 400.

Compared to the weight-loss powerhouses Eli Lilly and Novo Nordisk, Amgen hasn’t been investing as aggressively in its production capacity. But the California pharma could be ramping up manufacturing commitments as it prepares to enter the obesity arena.

Amgen is advancing the closely watched MariTide, an investigational bispecific molecule designed to block the GIP receptor while simultaneously activating the GLP-1 receptor. This mechanism of action allows MariTide to promote the secretion of insulin in the pancreas and suppress appetite, as well as positively affect other metabolic parameters.

MariTide is currently in a Phase II study evaluating its efficacy and safety in overweight or obese people. Last week, Amgen released data from this trial showing that MariTide could elicit weight loss of up to 20% on average at 52 weeks. The pharma did not report placebo-adjusted efficacy at the time.

The market appeared underwhelmed by the results—Amgen dipped 11% in reaction to the readout. Analysts at BMO Capital Markets wrote in an investor note at the time that the overall findings are “encouraging for further development” but are “not the bull case scenario yet.”

Jefferies analysts echoed the tepid response to the MariTide data, writing that “bulls will be a little disappointed today, while bears will say Amgen is no longer a major player” in obesity. Still, Jefferies pointed out that weight loss had not yet plateaued at the time of Amgen’s readout, suggesting that a longer follow-up could improve its efficacy profile.

Amgen also doesn’t seem to be discouraged by the market’s disappointment. CSO Jay Bradner said at the time that the pharma will push through with its Phase III MARITIME study for MariTide in obesity and related conditions.