BMS to Build Second Radiopharmaceutical Plant in Indiana, Invest $173M

BMS will build a second radiopharmaceutical manufacturing facility in Indiana. The company plans to invest $173 million to expand production capacity alongside its existing plant in Indianapolis.

According to an announcement on the 28th by Indiana Gov. Mike Braun, BMS will build a new 450,000-square-foot facility in the Anson industrial park in Whitestown, Indiana, through its subsidiary RayzeBio. Construction is set to begin this year.

The new plant will be located 20 miles southwest of the existing radiopharmaceutical manufacturing facility in Indianapolis. The existing facility spans 77,000 square feet.

BMS plans to create 100 new jobs at the two sites by the end of 2029. New employees are expected to earn more than $130,000 a year.

BMS entered the radiopharmaceutical market in 2023 by acquiring San Diego-based RayzeBio for $4.1 billion. One of the attractions of the acquisition was the Indianapolis facility, which was under construction at the time.

RayzeBio President Ben Hickey said, “Indiana is an important part of our strategy to build the infrastructure needed to advance the next generation of radiopharmaceutical therapies. This investment expands our manufacturing capacity, creates high-quality jobs and strengthens our ability to deliver innovation to patients.”

The Indianapolis facility, which received an investment of $160 million, is the first in the U.S. to combine isotope and drug production in an end-to-end manufacturing process. The facility began operating in July 2025, handling clinical-stage production while scaling up to commercial volumes. The drugs produced there can be distributed within two days of production.

Radiopharmaceuticals are drawing attention in oncology. As the radioactive isotopes on which they are based are developed to improve stability, they can deliver targeted radiation to tumors while minimizing side effects.

The new facility is designed to enable production of next-generation radiopharmaceutical cancer drugs based on actinium-225 (Ac225), an alpha-emitting isotope. The Ac225 approach differs from existing approved radiopharmaceutical therapies that use lutetium, a beta-emitting isotope, such as Novartis’ Lutathera and Pluvicto.

RayzeBio’s lead candidate, RYZ101, is in Phase 3 trials for gastroenteropancreatic neuroendocrine tumors (GEP-NETs) and is in early-stage development for small cell lung cancer. In 2024, the company temporarily paused enrollment in its Phase 3 trial because of an actinium shortage. The company is also researching radiopharmaceutical therapies for other solid tumors, including liver and prostate cancer.

Location is also important, according to BMS. The Indiana facilities are situated within a 10-hour drive of 50% of the U.S. population. This is critical because radiopharmaceuticals have a short shelf life.

Indiana’s governor is actively working to make the state a life sciences hub. The goal is to invest $1 billion over the next 10 years and create 100,000 new jobs. In radiopharmaceuticals, the state’s BioCrossroads initiative calls Indiana the “radiopharmaceutical capital of the world.”

Novartis, a leader in radiopharmaceuticals, also has a 70,000-square-foot plant in Indianapolis. Indianapolis-based Eli Lilly also has a nearby radiopharmaceutical manufacturing facility through Point Biopharma, which it acquired for $1.4 billion. Lilly’s acquisition of Point Biopharma took place in 2023, two months before BMS acquired RayzeBio.