Ipsen weighs return of U.S. manufacturing plant amid tariff pressure

European drugmakers plan American production sites

France’s Ipsen is weighing whether to build a U.S. production site. “Discussions are ongoing,” Chief Executive David Loew said in an interview, adding: “No decision has been reached yet on exactly when, but this is certainly something that we are taking into consideration.”

If Ipsen proceeds, the next major plant it builds would manufacture either Dysport—a neurotoxin that competes with AbbVie’s Botox—or an experimental medicine called corabotase that remains under development, Loew said.

The potential move would mark Ipsen’s return to fully owned U.S. manufacturing. The company previously maintained production in Cambridge, Massachusetts, but currently has no such plant in the country. Ipsen works with multiple U.S. external manufacturers, an Ipsen spokeswoman said.

The site decision fits into a broader reshuffle in which European pharmaceutical companies have pledged multibillion-dollar investments to bring manufacturing and other operations to the United States, moves industry executives have tied to mitigating tariff threats by the Trump administration. AstraZeneca and Roche are among the larger companies pursuing U.S. investments, while Belgium’s UCB and Australia’s CSL are smaller drugmakers planning similar projects.

Ipsen manufactures Dysport—its second-biggest drug by sales—at a facility in Wrexham, U.K., and operates additional production sites in Dublin and the French towns of Dreux and Signes. The company is investing 130 million euros ($150.9 million) to expand Wrexham capacity, a spokeswoman said, adding that the expansion does not preclude a separate U.S. project. Exports to the United States from Wrexham are exempt from tariffs under a bilateral agreement covering pharmaceuticals.

Dysport is a muscle relaxant Ipsen markets for therapeutic uses including cervical dystonia, a neck ailment. For cosmetic applications, Ipsen shares rights with Switzerland’s Galderma. A late-stage clinical trial this year showed Dysport delivered benefits in treating both episodic and chronic migraine, and the company has said it aims to launch Dysport for migraine in the second half of 2027, pending regulatory approval.

In light of the migraine results, Ipsen could pursue complementary deals using Dysport as an anchor product to build a broader franchise, Loew said. “We’re going to be the first company with a neurotoxin which is not just working in chronic migraine, but also in episodic migraine,” he said. “It suddenly opens up another field where we’re going to go and start looking at other late-stage opportunities.”

After acquiring Memo Therapeutics and Kartos Therapeutics over the past two months, Ipsen still has roughly 2 billion euros ($2.32 billion) available for further deals, Loew said. “We can do more deals across the full spectrum,” he said. “The goal is to have a balanced pipeline according to the stages in the clinical development, but also in terms of the therapeutic areas.”

Loew framed the recent acquisition drive as part of a strategy to absorb the loss of exclusivity for Ipsen’s best-selling cancer drug, Somatuline, and to expand the pipeline with a focus on niche markets.