J&J commits $1B to expand contact lens production in Florida

This audio is auto-generated. Please let us know if you have feedback . Dive Brief: Johnson & Johnson is investing more than $1 billion to build a contact lens manufacturing plant in Jacksonville, Florida, the company said Monday. The plant, which is under construction, is scheduled to be fully operational in 2028 and will add manufacturing, packaging and distribution capacity for J&J’s Acuvue contact lenses. J&J is building the facility as part of its previously disclosed plan to invest $55 billion in U.S. manufacturing, R&D and technology across its drug and device divisions through early 2029. Dive Insight: Last year, J&J outlined plans to build four new manufacturing plants and expand several existing sites as part of the $55 billion push to increase its capacity to make medicines and medical devices in the U.S. By the end of 2025, the company had invested about $12 billion under the expansion plan, J&J CFO Joseph Wolk said on an earnings call in April. J&J’s investment in Jacksonville will support construction of a distribution facility, plus the installation of manufacturing and packaging technologies. The investment will make J&J’s supply chain more resilient, CEO Joaquin Duato said in a statement. The statement makes no mention of the investment creating jobs. Rather, J&J said its outlay will support 3,500 Jacksonville employees. The company employs more than 3,500 people at its Jacksonville Vision campus, according to the region’s economic development organization. J&J established a presence in Jacksonville in 1981 through the acquisition of Frontier Contact Lens and launched its first Acuvue lenses in the U.S. in 1987. Today, J&J makes more than 1.7 billion Acuvue lenses a year for U.S. patients.