UCB selects Rowen for its planned Georgia biologics campus
UCB plans a biologics campus at Rowen in Georgia, with more than $2 billion in investment and about 330 permanent jobs expected when the plant begins operating.
UCB has selected Rowen in Gwinnett County, Georgia, for its first biologics manufacturing plant in the United States. The planned campus involves more than $2 billion of investment and about 330 permanent jobs. The 460,000-square-foot facility will occupy 79 acres off Rowen Parkway. Design and construction are expected to take six to seven years, with robotics, automation and artificial intelligence among the planned manufacturing technologies.
The March 2026 project announcement put the estimated regional economic impact at approximately $5 billion. Gwinnett County committed an estimated $174 million in incentives and infrastructure investments, including property-tax abatements, fee waivers and utility improvements. These public commitments accompany the company's planned investment. UCB also expects the project to support more than 1,000 construction jobs.
The earlier manufacturing plan
UCB first announced its proposed US biologics facility on June 12, 2025. At that stage, the company was conducting a feasibility study to select a location, concentrating on access to skilled workers and innovation networks. Its initial estimates were around 300 permanent, highly skilled direct jobs and more than 500 construction jobs. UCB was also expanding partnerships with US contract manufacturing organisations to support its products and development pipeline.
By that announcement, UCB's US workforce had grown 73% since 2017 to around 2,000 employees. Acquisitions and capital investments over the period totalled $4.5 billion. The company had obtained 15 US Food and Drug Administration approvals or indication expansions during that time, including eight in the preceding two years.
Infrastructure prepared at Rowen
Rowen's groundbreaking took place on December 9, 2022. The 2,000-acre development was planned as a community for researchers, businesses and entrepreneurs working in agriculture, medicine, environmental science and related technologies. Its first infrastructure phase included more than two miles of streets, paths and sidewalks.
By January 2024, nearly half of those roadways had been paved. The work had involved moving more than four million pounds of rock and 37,000 cubic yards of earth. After more than 36,000 work hours, a bioretention pond, curbs, gutters and storm drainage had been installed for much of the roadway, according to the foundation's dated construction update.
The foundation's regional workforce plans extended from metro Atlanta into Hall and Athens-Clarke counties, anchored in Gwinnett. Five higher-education institutions participated on its board:
- Emory University and Georgia Gwinnett College;
- Georgia Institute of Technology and Spelman College;
- University of Georgia.
Headquartered in Brussels, Belgium, UCB develops medicines for severe immune-system and central-nervous-system diseases. The company generated €6.1 billion in revenue in 2024 and employed more than 9,000 people across approximately 40 countries.
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