Hikma announced on June 9 that it will invest $267 million across two sites in Ohio as part of a $1 billion United States expansion drive the generic drugmaker unveiled last year.
Pending approval and finalization of economic development incentives, Hikma will spend $216 million to expand oral solid dose and nasal inhalation manufacturing operations in Columbus, Ohio. The company expects this investment to create 50 jobs and broke ground on an expansion in Columbus last year.
The company has been investing in the site to prepare for a long-term manufacturing contract with a global pharmaceutical company. Hikma said pharma companies are seeking to relocate drug production to the United States amid political pressure, which has led it to identify opportunities for building a contract manufacturing business at its plants.
Hikma is allocating the remaining $51 million of its recently disclosed investment to expand injectable manufacturing capabilities at its plant in Bedford, Ohio. This investment is expected to create up to 300 jobs and covers aseptic vial filling and lyophilization, IV bag production, warehousing, and distribution.
Improving the Bedford plant has been an ongoing project for Hikma. The facility was acquired in 2024 as part of Hikma’s $135 million acquisition of Xellia Pharmaceuticals assets and required refurbishing and upgrading before supporting commercial production. According to its annual report, Hikma aims to start full commercial production at Bedford in 2028 after machinery delays pushed back the previously targeted 2027 start date by about six months. The facility will produce products including Tyzavan—an antibiotic approved by the Food and Drug Administration last year—and support contract manufacturing efforts.
Hikma originally bought the Bedford site in 2014 as part of its acquisition of Bedford Laboratories assets from Boehringer Ingelheim but sold some facilities there to Xellia in 2015 before repurchasing them nine years later. With these investments, Ohio remains a key location for Hikma; it employs more than 1,200 people in Columbus alone. Across sites in Ohio and New Jersey, Hikma employs about 2,300 people overall. Its U.S. plants have capacity for more than twelve billion finished doses annually.
