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Roche said Monday it plans to invest up to $550 million and add hundreds of jobs over the next five years at its Indianapolis-based diagnostics unit.
The Swiss pharmaceutical and diagnostics giant said the move will establish the Indianapolis-based Roche Diagnostics site as a hub for manufacturing of its continuous glucose monitoring system.
Roche said the expansion is expected to produce hundreds of skilled manufacturing jobs and thousands of construction jobs while also enhancing U.S. domestic production and reducing dependency on imports. The company currently has 4,815 employees in Indianapolis.
The Trump administration has pushed manufacturers to invest in domestic production through actions including a series of tariffs. Roche said Monday’s news was “aligning with national efforts to strengthen local manufacturing.”
The move is part of Roche’s previously announced plan to invest $50 billion in pharmaceuticals and diagnostics over the next five years in the United States. Roche Diagnostics, with its North America unit based in Indianapolis, is a maker of instruments to help physicians and laboratories test for a wide range of patient conditions.
The company said its investment in a new continuous glucose monitoring manufacturing facility in Indianapolis was to address the growing need for care, as more than 38 million Americans live with diabetes.
Continuous glucose monitoring systems help people with diabetes monitor the amount of glucose in their blood.
“The challenges of diabetes are pervasive, with millions of Americans living with the constant vigilance and countless daily decisions the disease requires,” Roche Diagnostics North America CEO Brad Moore said in a written statement. “By expanding our manufacturing capabilities in Indianapolis, we ensure reliable access to innovative monitoring solutions for individuals living with diabetes in the U.S. and worldwide.”
The Roche Diagnostics campus on the north side of Indianapolis houses operations that include U.S. research and development, laboratories, manufacturing, distribution and IT and administrative functions. The facility produces about 5.2 billion Accu-Chek diabetes test strips annually and serves as one of the company’s two global distribution hubs focused on serving the U.S. market and supporting distribution to 53 countries worldwide.
Basel, Switzerland-based Roche said in April that it had committed to $50 billion in U.S. investment over the next five years, including new and expanded manufacturing facilities in Indiana, Pennsylvania, Massachusetts and California.
Roche is not the only medical giant with recent large investments in U.S. operations.
Indianapolis-based Eli Lilly and Co. announced plans in February to add four new still-unnamed U.S. manufacturing sites in a roughly $27 billion investment expected to create 3,000 jobs.
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