Bristol Myers Squibb, by way of its RayzeBio unit, has taken a big step in furthering its commitment to radiopharmaceuticals, earmarking $173 million to build a new manufacturing facility in Whitestown, Indiana.
Construction will begin this year on the 225,000-square-foot plant, which will be situated in the Anson Industrial Park, according to a Thursday release from Indiana Governor Mike Braun. The new campus will complement the Bristol subsidiary's existing 77,000-square-foot radiopharmaceutical manufacturing facility 20 miles to the southwest in Indianapolis.
By the end of 2029, BMS expects to have created 100 new jobs at the two locations, with annual wages for the new positions expected to exceed $130,000, according to the release.
BMS entered the radiopharmaceutical arena with its 2023 acquisition of San Diego-based RayzeBio for $4.1 billion. One of the big selling points was its Indianapolis facility, then under construction.
“Indiana is an important part of our strategy to build the infrastructure needed to advance the next generation of radiopharmaceutical therapies,” RayzeBio president Ben Hickey said in a statement. “This investment expands our manufacturing capabilities, creates high-quality jobs, and strengthens our ability to deliver innovation for patients.”
The current $160-million Indianapolis facility, described by the BMS unit as the first of its kind in the United States, performs end-to-end production, combining isotope and drug product manufacturing. The site, which became operational in July of 2025, handles clinical-stage manufacturing and is scaling up to produce commercial doses, which can be distributed within two days of production.
As radiopharmaceuticals have picked up momentum in oncology, the radioisotopes underpinning them have been developed with improved stability in mind, allowing the therapeutic class to deliver targeted radiation to tumors with minimal side effects.
The facility is equipped to produce next-generation radiopharmaceutical cancer treatments based on the alpha-emitting isotope actinium-225 (Ac225). The Ac225 approach to nuclear medicines differs from approved radiotherapies such as Novartis’ Lutathera and Pluvicto, which use a beta-emitting isotope known as lutetium.
RayzeBio’s top radiopharmaceutical candidate, RYZ101, is in phase 3 testing for gastroenteropancreatic neuroendocrine tumors (GEP-NETs) and early-stage development for small cell lung cancer. In 2024, because of a shortage of actinium, RayzeBio temporarily halted enrollment in its phase 3 trial. The company is also investigating radiopharmaceutical treatments for liver cancer, prostate cancer and other solid tumors.
Location is key, according to BMS, as the Indiana facilities are within a 10-hour drive of 50% of the U.S. population, which is critical as radiopharmaceuticals have a limited shelf life.
Indiana's Governor has been aggressive in his attempts to make the state a life sciences hub, committing to invest $1 billion over the next 10 years with the goal of creating 100,000 new jobs. With respect to radiopharmaceuticals in particular, the state’s BioCrossroads effort has dubbed Indiana the Radiopharmaceutical Capital of the World.
Radiopharma leader Novartis has a 70,000-square-foot plant in Indianapolis. Industry powerhouse Eli Lilly, which is based in Indianapolis, also has a radiopharmaceutical manufacturing site nearby, gained in its $1.4 billion acquisition of Point Biopharma. The 2023 buyout preceded BMS’ purchase of RayzeBio by two months.