Bracco said it will invest $230 million to establish its first U.S. manufacturing facility for injectable contrast media, selecting Sanford, North Carolina, for the project. The company said the investment is expected to create 200 jobs while expanding production capacity and improving supply chain resilience in the United States.
The planned site will be a sterile manufacturing facility supporting Bracco’s existing production operations across Europe, Asia and Canada. In practical terms, that means the company is not replacing its current network but diversifying it with domestic capacity in the market it identifies as its largest.
The Commercial Picture
Bracco framed the investment around demand, reliability and customer responsiveness. The company said additional sterile manufacturing capacity in the United States should leave it better positioned to meet growing demand, respond to customer needs and support reliable access to injectable contrast media used in diagnostic imaging.
There is also a competitive angle. Building U.S. manufacturing capacity should help Bracco compete more directly with diagnostics companies that already have established facilities in the country, including GE HealthCare, Philips and United Imaging Healthcare. For a medtech supplier in a category where continuity matters as much as product performance, local production can be a commercial asset as well as an operational one.
Sanford was chosen, according to Bracco, because of its skilled workforce, established life sciences ecosystem and supportive environment for advanced manufacturing. The 200 expected jobs will span manufacturing, engineering, technical operations, quality, warehousing and administrative roles.
CEO Fulvio Renoldi Bracco said producing injectable contrast media in Sanford brings supply closer to American hospitals and patients and makes it more resilient. The broader signal is that imaging suppliers are still willing to commit meaningful capital to manufacturing geography when market access, supply assurance and competitive positioning align in the same project.
