Roche said Monday it plans to invest up to $550 million and add hundreds of jobs over the next five years at its Indianapolis-based diagnostics unit.
The Swiss pharmaceutical and diagnostics giant said the move will establish the Indianapolis-based Roche Diagnostics, 9115 Hague Road, as a hub for manufacturing of its continuous glucose monitoring system. A continuous glucose monitoring system is a small device worn by the patient with a sensor to monitor glucose levels.
The expansion, which officials said would include a refurbishment of existing facilities and could include future new construction, will create about 650 skilled manufacturing jobs and roughly 1,000 construction jobs. The company currently has 4,815 employees in Indianapolis.
“Indianapolis was a natural choice when we saw a location for this new investment,” said Richeal Cline, Roche’s head of diagnostics global operations. “This location has strong manufacturing capabilities and a long-standing history of producing diabetes care products for Roche. In fact, in 2024 we manufactured over 5 billion diabetes test strips for patients across the world.”
The Trump administration has pushed manufacturers to invest in domestic production through actions including a series of tariffs. The company said Monday’s announcement was “aligning with national efforts to strengthen local manufacturing.”
The move is part of Roche’s previously announced plan to invest $50 billion in pharmaceuticals and diagnostics over the next five years in the United States. Roche Diagnostics, with its North America unit based in Indianapolis, is a maker of instruments to help physicians and laboratories test for a wide range of patient conditions.
Cline said for the expansion Roche plans to partner with U.S. based suppliers for production equipment, engineering, design, support and construction.
Cline said the Indianapolis expansion will implement manufacturing for the current generation continuous glucose monitoring product was launched late last year in select European countries: “Our goal is to initiate production within three years,” she said.
The company said the investment was in response to a growing need, with more than 38 million Americans living with diabetes.
“The challenges of diabetes are pervasive, with millions of Americans living with the constant vigilance and countless daily decisions the disease requires,” Roche Diagnostics North America CEO Brad Moore said in a written statement. “By expanding our manufacturing capabilities in Indianapolis, we ensure reliable access to innovative monitoring solutions for individuals living with diabetes in the U.S. and worldwide.”
The Roche Diagnostics campus on the north side of Indianapolis houses operations that include U.S. research and development, laboratories, manufacturing, distribution and IT and administrative functions. The facility produces about 5.2 billion Accu-Chek diabetes test strips annually and serves as one of the company’s two global distribution hubs focused on serving the U.S. market and supporting distribution to 53 countries worldwide.
Moore said the City of Indianapolis provided a 10-year property tax abatement valued at about $40 million and the State of Indiana extended an incentive package worth $20 million in tax credits.
Basel, Switzerland-based Roche said in April that it had committed to $50 billion in U.S. investment over the next five years, including new and expanded manufacturing facilities in Indiana, Pennsylvania, Massachusetts and California.
Roche is not the only medical giant with recent large investments in U.S. operations.
Indianapolis-based Eli Lilly and Co. announced plans in February to add four new still-unnamed U.S. manufacturing sites in a roughly $27 billion investment expected to create 3,000 jobs.