Bayer selects Ohio for $2.2 billion pharmaceutical manufacturing campus
The project is expected to create about 600 jobs and draw on a state-backed training center set to open in 2027, linking one of Ohio’s largest biomanufacturing commitments to a workforce strategy designed to prepare operators and technicians before production begins in 2031.
Bayer on Friday announced plans to invest $2.2 billion in a pharmaceutical manufacturing campus in the New Albany International Business Park, a project expected to create about 600 jobs and roughly 1,500 construction positions.
The planned campus will combine drug-substance and drug-product manufacturing in a flexible, modular operation that uses advanced digital and automation technologies. Bayer said the facility will support its portfolio in oncology, cardiovascular care and renal care.
The announcement represents one of Ohio’s largest biomanufacturing investments to date and adds Bayer to a growing life-sciences manufacturing cluster in New Albany.
By the numbers
- $2.2 billion: Bayer’s planned investment in the New Albany campus.
- About 600: Expected permanent jobs.
- About 1,500: Construction jobs expected during development.
- 2031: Target date for the first drug-substance manufacturing module to begin operating.
- 2034: Target date for the second, drug-product manufacturing module to follow.
“Bayer has long seen the United States as a key manufacturing base and innovation hub,” Bayer CEO Bill Anderson said of the announcement. “This landmark investment underscores our commitment.”
Why Ohio's workforce mattered
Ohio officials said workforce readiness was a central part of the state’s case for the project.
Bayer plans to draw on the Ohio Life Science Training Center, a biomanufacturing workforce facility under construction in New Albany and scheduled to open in summer 2027. The center, led by the Ohio Life Sciences Institute, is intended to train Ohioans for operator and technician roles in pharmaceutical manufacturing.
JobsOhio has committed up to $30 million to the training center. The city of New Albany, the state and The New Albany Company have collectively committed nearly $8 million more, bringing the project’s total support to nearly $38 million, according to the announcement.
“Bayer didn’t just choose a site. It chose a workforce,” JobsOhio President and CEO J.P. Nauseef said of the selection.
Ohio Life Sciences CEO Eddie Pauline added that the center’s development before Bayer’s announcement showed the state was prepared to invest in specialized talent infrastructure.
“Bayer told us workforce readiness was essential, and our collective investment in the Ohio Life Science Training Center gave them confidence that Ohio can deliver,” Pauline said.
New Albany’s growing cluster
Bayer will join Amgen, American Regent, Pharmavite and Hims & Hers in the New Albany International Business Park. Those life-sciences employers already account for more than 2,660 jobs in the park, according to The New Albany Company.
Amgen is also developing an expansion expected to add 350 jobs when it opens in 2027, the company said.
State and regional leaders also cited New Albany’s long-term infrastructure planning, including access to power, water and industrial sites, as part of the region’s appeal for large-scale pharmaceutical manufacturing.
Growing BioTech momentum
Bayer’s investment adds fresh momentum to Ohio’s fast-growing life-sciences sector. The planned campus brings a global pharmaceutical manufacturer, about 600 jobs and new production capacity to a state investing heavily in biomanufacturing talent.
With the Ohio Life Science Training Center expected to open in 2027—four years before Bayer’s first module is scheduled to begin operations—the project links Ohio’s workforce strategy to one of the state’s largest pharmaceutical manufacturing commitments.
