Eli Lilly has announced that it will be investing an additional $5.3bn in its two new US manufacturing sites, bringing the total spend up to $9bn and making it the largest manufacturing investment in the company’s history, according to Dave Ricks, chair and chief executive officer, Lilly.
In addition, the investment will help to expand active pharmaceutical ingredients (API) for its chronic disease drugs, Zepbound (tirzepatide) and Mounjaro (tirzepatide) injections.
The new investment builds on its previous commitment of $1.6bn announced in April 2023, bringing the total spend up to $3.7m in its US manufacturing sites, to “make life-changing medicines that patients around the world need to address serious health challenges, including diabetes and cancer,” Ricks said.
Located within Indiana’s LEAP Research and Innovation District, the new site is expected to house an additional 200 full-time jobs, including engineers, scientists, operating personnel and lab technicians, totalling an estimated 900 full-time employees when fully operational, as well as more than 5,000 construction jobs during the site’s development.
The facility will support Lilly’s expansion of its manufacturing network for APIs, support increased demand for existing Lilly products and play a crucial role in bringing the next generation of therapeutic modalities to patients globally.
Following the approval of Mounjaro in 2022 and Zepbound in 2023, Eli Lilly made this strategic investment decision to make these medicines available to adults living with type 2 diabetes and obesity, respectively.
As the only approved treatments that activate two incretin hormone receptors, GIP and GLP-1, the demand for these medications has increased, further underscoring the need for treatments in both conditions.
Commenting on the new investment, Ricks said: “This multi-site campus will make our latest medicines, including Zepbound and Mounjaro, support pipeline growth and leverage the latest technology and automation for maximum efficiency, safety and quality control.”
Lilly has committed more than $16bn to develop new manufacturing sites in the US and Europe since 2020, including North Carolina, Ireland and Germany.
In addition, the company has also invested an additional $1.2bn to update existing manufacturing facilities in Indianapolis and, more recently, acquired an injectable facility in Wisconsin from Nexus Pharmaceuticals, together totalling more than $18bn in investments.