Within the past four months, two of the world's top biopharmaceutical manufacturers, Eli Lilly & Company and AstraZeneca, have announced plans to establish large new operations in Virginia, garnering attention from both the biopharmaceutical industry and the larger business community.
A series of announcements quickly came together that would bring hundreds of jobs and billions of dollars in investment, raising the question, “Why Virginia?”
The answer is that the federal strategy behind the biopharmaceutical boom has been years in the making.
For decades, Virginia has tailored its education, workforce, research and development, locations and logistics to the needs of an industry defined by precision, scale and speed. Today, Virginia provides executives with a rapidly deployable, end-to-end platform to produce next-generation medicines.
Education is the backbone of Virginia's strategy, and we have been ranked No. 1 in education by CNBC six times in a row, three years in a row. Virginia's K-12 system, colleges and universities, and workforce programs ensure that businesses have access to a highly skilled workforce. Flagship institutions such as Virginia Commonwealth University (including the Medicine for All Institute), the University of Virginia (home to the Paul & Diane Manning Institute for Biotechnology), and Virginia Tech (and VTC's Fralin Institute for Biomedical Research) are nationally recognized for educating engineers and scientists while advancing medical research. Virginia Community College's Pharmaceutical Manufacturing Program provides students with hands-on experience in the complexities of drug manufacturing.
While the education system shapes Virginia's skilled workforce, federal field preparedness and logistics have been the deciding factor in Virginia's key victories. The Virginia Business Ready Sites program provides project-ready locations customized for advanced manufacturing.
Additionally, expanded air cargo capacity at Washington Dulles International Airport allows for 24- to 48-hour delivery windows, which is especially important for time-sensitive cell and gene therapy and pharmaceutical shipments. The expansion of Dulles Air Cargo will complement the Port of Virginia's already established transportation network. Investments in site development and logistics infrastructure will improve Virginia's speed to market, allowing manufacturers to quickly mobilize talent and scale.
In addition to education, talent, locations, and infrastructure, targeted investments over the past five years have helped build biopharmaceutical momentum. At the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, Virginia began to focus specifically on pharmaceutical manufacturing to alleviate drug shortages and strengthen domestic supply chains. More than $1.3 billion from state, federal, and philanthropic partners is flowing into infrastructure, workforce development, and public-private research collaborations. This investment not only translates strategy into capability, but also demonstrates the depth of investment by partners at all levels of government and the private sector.
Now, industry leaders around the world are also testing the Commonwealth's model, with Lilly CEO David Rix bringing next-generation cancer drug manufacturing to Virginia, and AstraZeneca CEO Pascal Soriot citing “Virginia's speed” as a reason for choosing the Commonwealth. New investments from AstraZeneca and Lilly will support Virginia's capabilities and strengthen Virginia's momentum to attract and retain talented people. These biopharmaceutical anchors will also attract suppliers and shorten the supply chain, alongside existing Virginia leaders such as Merck and Novo Nordisk. This ripple effect will create more opportunities for students, more choice for businesses, and a deeper ecosystem for innovation in Virginia.
