“Every state is chasing life sciences right now – but only a subset have the essential ingredients.” – Jay Biggins, executive managing director at BLS & Co.
📈 Pharma manufacturing is booming, according to JLL:
The pharma sector has logged $475 billion in U.S. CapEx commitments this year – including $13 billion across three new sites since mid September alone.
Large pharma now accounts for its highest share of leasing volume in recent history.
What’s driving it?
“Reshoring policies, tariff shifts, and strategic national security priorities,” site selection firm Global Location Strategies notes in its new Best Places for Pharmaceutical Manufacturing Insights Report out this week.
To map where the race for pharma CapEx is being won, we turned to an all-star cast of experts:
Pam Paddock, managing director of Life Sciences at JLL, on the firm’s latest life sciences cluster rankings and what AI could mean for the future of pharma real estate
Didi Caldwell and her team at Global Location Strategies, on their new pharma manufacturing report
Jay Biggins of BLS & Co. on macro industry dynamics (we stuck to broad themes because Jay is involved with several active projects he can’t speak about – still, his insight was incredible!)
This is one of our most deeply reported and timely briefings yet.
Now, let’s turn to the map…
Zach Silber
Editor-in-Chief, Standard & Works
🏆 The Heavyweight: North Carolina
“In North Carolina, they’ve got everything,” Jay Biggins tells me – citing workforce and capacity for both R&D and large-scale manufacturing.
The Research Triangle’s ecosystem of universities, workforce programs, and corporate anchors has become the national model.
But… Biggins cautions that success brings its own limits.
“In the minds of some, a huge percentage of this activity has been going to North Carolina and the market may be a little overcooked,” he says, particularly when it comes to competing for construction, labor, subs, talent, and sites.
The state is smartly investing in infrastructure and site readiness, he notes, but “all that takes time to restock.”
That lag is creating opportunity for new markets with the right “starter ingredients” to compete.
Case in point…
🌟 The Overnight Sensation: Virginia
Virginia is suddenly a life sciences powerhouse.
Following the announcement of three major projects in the past 45 days, a new biomanufacturing triangle is being drawn across the center of the state.
AstraZeneca $4.5 billion facility in Albemarle County, and
Merck’s $3 billion expansion in Elkton.
What to watch: Expect the areas between these facilities to start filling in.
“It is possible to create a pretty serious cluster in a hurry around two or three very large announcements,” Biggins says.
That concentration, he adds, creates opportunities for workers to live within reasonable commuting distance of at least two plants and have the mobility to take other jobs without having to move.
“Those are the reasons why clusters are so powerful.”
Driving that dynamic: Gov. Glenn Youngkin just announced a $120M commitment from Eli Lilly and Company, AstraZeneca, and Merck towards a new advanced pharma manufacturing center that will train 2,000+ professionals each year.
⚙️Ready to Go: Ohio
Source: JobsOhio
Bill Dunlevy, vice president of Ohio Life Sciences, spent decades in medical devices before retiring – then came back when he saw the opportunity forming.
“I saw what was happening in Ohio and just got excited,” he told us. “I kept seeing these wins and felt like I was getting left out. I felt like I could contribute.”
One of those wins: in April, Amgen announced a $900 million expansion of its New Albany, OH plant.
From her national vantage at JLL, Pam Paddock, Managing Director of Life Sciences, sees the momentum too:
“I think the Midwest is becoming a bit of a powerhouse.”
Ohio’s rise is no accident. JobsOhio has designated life sciences and biotech one of its five “super sectors” to aggressively pursue, with workforce as a top priority.
“When Amgen builds a facility here, they don’t need dozens – they need hundreds of people to work in a clean room,” Dunlevy said. “So we have K-12 programs that work on the pipeline of life-sciences workers.”
Recent initiatives include:
A $30 million biomanufacturing training center in Central Ohio announced last month by OLS, JobsOhio, and One Columbus with backing from industry partners.
BioPathways, launched in January, trains K-12 science teachers to connect classroom lessons with local industry careers.
“They can now tell their kids an anecdote of what they’re studying on page 62 in their microbiology textbook – why it's important, why you need to care about it, and how you're actually gonna use this lesson when you go to work in this plant that's right in your town.”
A Learning Lunchbox program set to roll out in 2026 will further strengthen early STEM engagement.
These initiatives align with what site selectors say is the most critical ingredient in pharma manufacturing.
“Workforce readiness is now the true competitive edge,” says Didi Caldwell of Global Location Strategies.
Another selling point that differentiates Ohio from East Coast hubs like North Carolina?
“Ohio brags about its weather – our lack of weather events that would close a factory and keep you from meeting your manufacturing goals,” Dunlevy says.
🔬 In the Wings: Maryland
One state with a unique competitive advantage: Maryland.
It has the NIH, for starters, and with 74 federal laboratories, Maryland anchors the nation’s third largest life sciences cluster along with D.C. and Virginia.
Maryland also hosts BioHub Maryland, a partnership with the National Institute for Bioprocessing Research and Training (NIBRT) — the gold standard for pharmaceutical workforce training.
The only other U.S. partner on NIBRT’s website? Houston, another emerging hub that just landed Eli Lilly’s new $6.5 billion GLP-1 plant.
A dynamic to watch: Maryland is in recession due to the outsized impact of federal budget cuts on state residents, according to Moody’s. As the state explores options to re-catalyze growth, life sciences is a natural target.
💪 The Enduring Contender: New Jersey
Legacy meets leverage.
New Jersey ranks #1 for U.S. biomanufacturing in JLL’s latest benchmark and is among GLS’ top five best places for pharmaceutical manufacturing.
“On sheer existing numbers, New Jersey would merit a mention on almost any list,” Jay Biggins says.
At a time when greenfield megasites are grabbing attention, New Jersey continues to capitalize on established assets.
Bill Noonan, chief business development officer at Choose New Jersey, points to the recent $330M sale of Eli Lilly’s Branchburg, NJ facility to South Korea’s Celltrion.
“They’re keeping the workers, enhancing the site, and investing millions.”
Asked about the view that New Jersey is too expensive to compete, Noonan says you need to look at the full picture.
“There are a number of things that companies look at that are very important. It is the communities that you can live in and your employees can live in. It is the best K-12 education system. We have the available space, we have the available workforce, we have the lifestyle.”
And while many peers focus on competing with neighboring states, Noonan sees New Jersey’s regional markets as strengths – that’s part of why Choose New Jersey is leaning into foreign investment.
“We have three offices in Europe, an office in Israel, two offices in India. We opened up East Asia last year,” Noonan rattles off. “And we have Shanghai, Tokyo, and Seoul – plus a West Coast office to support film, television, technology, and AI.”
The results are tangible, he says.
“We’re seeing an increasing pipeline, increasing opportunity. FDI is really strong.”
👀 Markets to Watch
When I asked Biggins about emerging life sciences markets to watch, he didn’t hesitate: “Kansas.”
Other regions Standard & Works sees with momentum in our discussions and research:
Pennsylvania
Delaware
Salt Lake City
Indianapolis
St. Louis
Go Deeper: Inside Pittsburgh’s Playbook for Life Sciences CapEx
We sat down with Megan Shaw, president and CEO of the Pittsburgh Life Sciences Alliance, to discuss how the city is positioning itself as AI reshapes R&D and manufacturing.
“You’ve got the clinical side, the research side, and a history of automation and manufacturing all coming together,” Shaw told us at the AI Horizons Summit in Pittsburgh last month.
Click to watch our full interview.
⚠️ The Other Shoes to Drop
Eli Lilly has announced plans to site two more U.S. plants this year.
Where they land will catalyze new clusters and redraw the map again.
Stay tuned.
