Global biopharmaceutical giant AstraZeneca announced Friday it will invest nearly $2 billion in research and manufacturing facilities in the Washington-area suburbs in Maryland over the next five years.

The move is expected to create 300 new life sciences jobs in Montgomery and Frederick counties and 1,900 construction jobs while boosting the domestic production of therapies for cancer, rare diseases and other conditions.

The announcement at the company’s Frederick plant makes good on its July pledge to invest $50 billion in creating and making drugs in the United States following a major push by the Trump administration.

It also bolsters the state’s push to expand its life sciences sector, which employs thousands, largely in the Washington suburbs and in the Baltimore region, and contributes billions to the economy.

“AstraZeneca’s significant investment and expansion in Maryland underscores our state’s global leadership in life sciences and biomanufacturing,” Maryland Gov. Wes Moore said. “This landmark investment strengthens the U.S. medicine supply chain and accelerates the development of lifesaving therapies, while creating hundreds of good-paying jobs for Marylanders.”

Moore said the expansion represents the biggest private investment tracked in a state Department of Commerce database going back a decade.

AstraZeneca already was Maryland’s largest life sciences company, with 5,500 workers at facilities in Frederick, Gaithersburg and Rockville. A $300 million cell therapy manufacturing plant in Rockville opened in May.

The state and local governments plan to match 10% of the company’s investment over eight years, Moore said.

The deal includes direct capital grants, money from discretionary programs, conditional loans, and state and local tax credits, and is contingent on the company reaching workforce and investment targets, according to the administration.

In luring new investment, state officials often tout the region’s proximity to federal agencies and its educated workforce, in addition to the university researchers and start-ups launched in College Park — home to the University of Maryland’s flagship campus — and up Interstate 95 in Baltimore, home to the Johns Hopkins University and the University of Maryland, Baltimore.

Officials noted that the new positions could go to scientists and researchers who recently lost federal jobs, potentially stalling research into new therapies and cures. Some of the jobs in Friday’s announcement, however, are retained positions rather than new ones.

AstraZeneca’s Frederick plant will double its capacity, and a new facility will be built in Gaithersburg. AstraZeneca acquired some of the properties when it acquired MedImmune, maker of the FluMist vaccine, in 2007.

AstraZeneca also develops and makes materials for advanced therapies for a host of diseases, including a relatively new immunotherapy called CAR-T, through which T-cells are taken from a patient, engineered in a lab and infused back into the body so they can fight that person’s specific cancer.

AstraZeneca plans to make such products for clinical trials and for markets across the United States and for export.

Pascal Soriot, AstraZeneca’s CEO, described the company’s investment as “deepening our long-standing commitment to Maryland,” while “bringing our extensive rare disease portfolio onshore for the first time.“

He also credited the investment as a way to strengthen the resilience of the U.S.-based supply chain for medicines sold around the world.

The announcement was attended by a slew of Maryland’s local, state and federal elected leaders, many of whom emphasized the growth of high-tech jobs, the expansion of Maryland’s life sciences sector and the nearby patients who would have access to some of the latest and most effective therapies.

Montgomery County Executive Marc Elrich called the investment “powerful testimony to the strength of our highly educated and diverse workforce, the depth of our innovation ecosystem and the quality of life that continues to attract and retain world-class companies.”

Frederick County Executive Jessica Fitzwater said the announcement was “a win for the entire region and demonstrates AstraZeneca’s commitment to growing strategically and sustainably along the I-270 corridor.”

This article has been updated.