Eli Lilly, Merck, and Pfizer are moving drug manufacturing back to the United States.
Posted by Badlands Media, Checked
- Sources
- 3 support5 context
- Said
- 1 time·
- Confidence
- 65%
Badlands MediaOct 15, 2026
The sources show Eli Lilly, Pfizer, and Merck all committing billions to expand US drug manufacturing before 2026-10-15, which supports the core claim that they are bringing manufacturing back to the US.
This claim is about the present, so it is judged as of the day it was checked.
What was said
… He said, I have never seen anything like what's happening in our country right now. Our country is doing so well. We're building more buildings, more factories, more plants. More Eli Lilly just announced they're coming in with many medical plants. Merck, Pfizer, all of our drug businesses coming back. It's made now in Ireland and China and UK. It's all coming back. They're spending hundreds of billions of dollars. It'll all be back very shortly. Before I leave, it'll be back. Before I leave, two and a half years, a little now, a little less than that. …
Badlands Media · · from the transcriptPost →What we found
Supports. Reuters (Aug 2026) reports Pfizer reached a deal with the Trump administration to invest $70 billion in R&D and domestic manufacturing, and that Eli Lilly plans US plants in Alabama, Virginia, and Texas.[1]
Supports. A Virginia economic development report describes Merck's $3 billion expansion adding 400,000 square feet at its Elkton campus, with construction starting in October 2025.[2]
Supports. MedCity News (Sept 2026) lists Merck, Pfizer, and Eli Lilly among roughly 14 to 15 major pharma companies with US manufacturing commitments totaling around $500 billion.[3]
Context. Trump's claim that production was moving from Ireland, China, and the UK is not supported by data in the sources; IANS and Nationpress both note that no data was provided for it.[4][5]
Context. Later sources (Oct 22 and Nov 2, 2026) describe further Lilly US plant announcements, which postdate the 2026-10-15 claim date but are consistent with the earlier commitments.[6][7][8]
Sources
8 sources: 1 fact-checker, 7 not rated
- 1Global drugmakers invest billions to boost US presence - Reutersreuters.com · fact-checker · cited for: supports
- 2Behind the Effort to Bring Drug Manufacturing Back to U.S. ...vedp.org · not rated · cited for: supports
- 3The Real Bottleneck in U.S. Pharma Reshoring Isn't Factories – It's Talentmedcitynews.com · not rated · cited for: supports
- 4Trump says chips, medicines coming back to USianslive.in · not rated · cited for: context
- 5Trump claims US to make 50% of world's chips after TSMC's $265bn Arizona betnationpress.com · not rated · cited for: context
- 6October 22, 2026investor.lilly.com · not rated · cited for: context
- 7Lilly unveils $27bn reshoring drive around four new plantspharmaphorum.com · not rated · cited for: context
- 8Eli Lilly to build $6 B worth API manufacturing facility in USbiospectrumasia.com · not rated · cited for: context
Where this claim was made
Said in 1 published post
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