Octapharma, Novant Health to invest $1.8B, create 1,500 jobs in Greater Charlotte

Two life sciences organizations with operations in North Carolina are planning major expansions that will bring over 1,500 jobs and $1.8 billion in investment to the Greater Charlotte region.

Octapharma, a global health care company with a corporate office in Charlotte, will invest $1.5 billion in new manufacturing facilities, corporate offices and laboratories over the next 10 years, creating an estimated 1,250 new jobs.

Novant Health of Winston-Salem will build a $300 million medical complex that is expected to create 255 full-time jobs.

Both expansions are planned for the Palmetto Research Park, a 209-acre site in Rock Hill, S.C., about 15 miles from the North Carolina border and less than 30 miles from downtown Charlotte. Octapharma will build on 50 acres there while Novant Health will build on 25 acres.

“These two highly reputable organizations will bring substantial investment and hundreds of desirable jobs to our region for years to come,” said Corie Curtis, executive director of the North Carolina Biotechnology Center’s Greater Charlotte Office. “Their expansions will boost the life sciences economy and create significant opportunities for businesses and employees on both sides of the state border.”

Construction for both projects is expected to begin in 2027.

Octapharma, one of the world’s largest producers of protein therapies derived from human plasma and cells, will build its first U.S. manufacturing plant at the site with a 3.5-million-liter capacity for plasma processing. It will also relocate about 300 corporate jobs to the site from its current offices in southwest Charlotte, according to the Charlotte Business Journal.

The company will pay annual average wages of $141,502 at the corporate offices and $102,752 at the manufacturing plant.

The family-owned company was founded in 1983 and is based in Lachen, Switzerland, about 25 miles southeast of Zurich. Its products are used in hematology, immunotherapy and critical care.

Octapharma has more than 11,000 employees worldwide and generated over $4 billion in revenue last year.
The company operates six plasma-donation centers in North Carolina: three in Charlotte and one each in Durham, Raleigh and Rocky Mount.

Novant Health is a non-profit healthcare system serving patients across the Carolinas. It employs about 43,000 people at more than 900 locations and reported $11.9 billion in operating revenue in 2025.