Eli Lilly to build new USD6.5 billion manufacturing facility in Texas

Eli Lilly & Co on Tuesday announced plans for a new facility to manufacture active pharmaceutical ingredients in Texas, including its receptor agonist orforglipron for the treatment of obesity.

The Indianapolis, Indiana-based pharmaceutical company said it plans to create 4,615 manufacturing and construction jobs, out of which 615 will include engineers, scientists, operations personnel and lab technicians. Further, the firm expects to generate 4,000 construction jobs as the site is being built and brought online.

The planned USD6.5 billion synthetic medicine active pharmaceutical product [API] facility at Generation Park in Houston, Texas is the second of four new US sites Eli Lilly will announce this year, with focus on manufacturing the company's pipeline of small molecule medicines across therapeutic areas.

"Importantly, the site will be among those that will manufacture orforglipron, Lilly's first oral, small molecule GLP-1 receptor agonist, which the company expects to submit to global regulatory agencies for obesity by the end of this year," the firm highlighted.

The facility is expected to become operational within five years.

Chair & Chief Executive Officer David Ricks said: "Our new Houston site will enhance Lilly's ability to manufacture orforglipron at scale and, if approved, help fulfill the medicine's potential as a metabolic health treatment for tens of millions of people worldwide who prefer the ease of a pill that can be taken without food and water restrictions. This significant US investment and onshoring of our API production capabilities will ensure faster, more secure access to orforglipron and to other life changing medicines of the future."