Chicago Construction News staff writer
AbbVie has officially broken ground on a new active pharmaceutical ingredient (API) manufacturing plant in North Chicago, marking a major step in the company’s strategy to strengthen its U.S. manufacturing network and expand domestic production capabilities.
“Today’s groundbreaking is an important milestone in AbbVie’s ongoing campaign to accelerate biopharmaceutical innovation and manufacturing capabilities in the U.S.,” said Azita Saleki-Gerhardt, Ph.D., executive vice president and chief operations officer. “Over the next decade, AbbVie plans to invest more than $10 billion in capital to add multiple new U.S. manufacturing plants and improve the lives of millions of patients in the U.S. and worldwide who depend on our medicines.”
The new facility, part of a previously announced $195 million investment, will expand AbbVie’s chemical synthesis capabilities. Once completed, it will allow the company to bring API production for select products from Europe and Asia to the U.S., supporting domestic manufacturing of current and next-generation neuroscience, immunology, and oncology medicines.
Active pharmaceutical ingredient manufacturing is one of the most complex and critical steps in drug production, involving the synthesis of the active components that deliver a medication’s therapeutic effects.
AbbVie’s expansion in North Chicago will also create new jobs and strengthen its presence in Illinois, where the company is headquartered and employs more than 11,000 people. Nationally, AbbVie employs 28,000 workers across all 50 states and Puerto Rico, with its U.S. manufacturing footprint supporting more than 6,000 jobs at 11 sites.
The new API facility represents both a major infrastructure investment and a long-term commitment to advancing U.S.-based pharmaceutical manufacturing, ensuring supply chain resilience and innovation in critical therapeutic areas.
