Tariffs Nudge Pharma Toward Localization, but Supply Chains Can’t Shift Overnight

According to Franco Stevanato, CEO of Stevanato Group, tariff policies are beginning to influence how pharmaceutical companies think about manufacturing location and supply chain resilience, but the shift toward localization will take time. While tariffs have created temporary cost pressures for the company, including surcharges passed on to customers, those impacts have largely been accepted by clients and are not yet driving immediate supply chain reconfiguration.

Stevanato operates 13 sites across nine countries and generally supplies products regionally, though certain items continue to be manufactured in Europe. Capacity expansion in the US—particularly at the company’s facility in Fishers, IN—is underway, but meaningful ramp-up will take several more years. In the short term, the company cannot quickly redirect production or fully restructure its global supply network.

Despite these near-term headwinds, Stevanato sees tariffs as a catalyst for longer-term opportunity. The company already has significant campus infrastructure in place, positioning it to benefit as customers reassess their footprint strategies. Over a three- to four-year horizon, leadership expects more pharmaceutical manufacturers to increase investment in US-based production as they seek to mitigate trade risks, improve regional supply continuity, and align manufacturing closer to end markets.

However, the pace of change is constrained by the realities of pharmaceutical operations. Site development, validation, regulatory approvals, and capacity scaling require long lead times, making rapid shifts impractical. Decisions around localization must also align with pharma companies’ internal investment cycles and long-term network planning.

Overall, tariffs are not triggering immediate supply chain realignment, but they are accelerating strategic discussions around regionalization and domestic capacity. For packaging companies like Stevanato, this evolving landscape presents a medium-term growth opportunity as customers gradually move toward more localized and resilient manufacturing models—particularly in North America—while managing short-term operational and cost pressures.

Stevanato also discussed the strategic advantages to expanding production within the US and much more.

A transcript of his conversation with PC can be found below.

PC: What role are tariff policies playing in accelerating the shift toward local production and supply chain localization within the pharma industry?

Stevanato: Tariffs will generate some temporary headwinds for Stevanato because for sure we have put some surcharge to our clients; by the way, they are are accepted. We’ll change the income tax. But anyhow, in the short term, we are not able to readdress our supply chain. Just to give you some information, Nico, we have 13 sites in nine different countries, but usually, we try to supply region by region.

This is not valid for all the products because we’re still producing some products in Europe. We are ramping up capacity in Fishers, but this will require another couple of years. Temporarily, we have some headwinds, but in the meantime, this will represent additional opportunities, because we have already have this big campus and some clients in the medium term, we're talking about three to four years.

It's difficult for that to really change rapidly, because it's the timing on the pharma company. We start to see clients that invest in footprint strategy. They're raising the attention to invest more in the United States, and this—in the middle term—is going to be a good boost for Stevanato Group.