Governor Glenn Youngkin announced October 9, 2025 that AstraZeneca will invest $4.5 billion to establish two manufacturing facilities at the Rivanna Futures Site in the northern portion of Albemarle County, Virginia. The first facility will manufacture drug substances — including small molecules, peptides, and oligonucleotides — targeting chronic diseases such as weight management and metabolic conditions, including oral GLP-1, baxdrostat, oral PCSK9, and combination small molecule products. The second facility will be dedicated to antibody-drug conjugate manufacturing for oncology. The Virginia Economic Development Partnership worked with Albemarle County and the General Assembly’s Major Employment and Investment Project Approval Commission to secure the projects.
What it means
AstraZeneca described the $4.5 billion commitment as the largest single manufacturing investment in the company’s history, and said it is part of a planned $50 billion U.S. investment by 2030. The two Albemarle County facilities are expected to create 600 direct highly skilled jobs — engineers, scientists, and process facilitators — along with an additional 3,000 indirect jobs, according to the company. The United States is AstraZeneca’s largest market; the company currently employs more than 18,000 people across 19 U.S. research, manufacturing, and commercial sites and said it contributed $5 billion directly to the U.S. economy in 2024.
Virginia’s support package includes a MEI Commission-approved special appropriation of up to $191.3 million for the drug substance manufacturing facility, contingent on an investment of at least $4 billion and creation of at least 500 jobs, and subject to Virginia General Assembly approval. The antibody-drug conjugate facility is eligible for a grant from the Commonwealth’s Opportunity Fund. Workforce training will be provided through the Virginia Talent Accelerator Program, a VEDP program created in collaboration with higher education partners that provides services at no cost to qualifying companies. The Rivanna Futures Site previously received a $9.7 million grant from the Virginia Business Ready Sites Program. VEDP said the time from first conversation to project partnership was 33 days.
Key facts
- Investment: $4.5 billion total in Albemarle County, Virginia (according to the company)
- Facilities: 2 new manufacturing sites at the Rivanna Futures Site, northern Albemarle County
- Facility 1: drug substance manufacturing — small molecules, peptides, oligonucleotides, chronic disease and metabolic portfolio
- Facility 2: antibody-drug conjugate manufacturing for oncology
- Direct jobs: 600 highly skilled positions expected (engineers, scientists, process facilitators)
- Indirect jobs: 3,000 additional, according to the company
- State incentive: up to $191.3 million MEI Commission-approved special appropriation for the drug substance facility, subject to General Assembly approval
- Site history: Rivanna Futures Site previously received a $9.7 million Virginia Business Ready Sites Program grant
- Broader context: investment is part of AstraZeneca’s planned $50 billion U.S. investment by 2030, according to the company
Source: Virginia Economic Development Partnership news release (vedp.org)