Eli Lilly Announces “Historic” $5.3 Billion Investment in GLP-1 Manufacturing Site

• Eli Lilly is investing an additional $5.3 billion – the “single largest investment in synthetic medicine API manufacturing in US history” – in its manufacturing site in Lebanon, Indiana, bringing the total investment to $9 billion.

• The investment will expand the manufacturing capacity of APIs for Zepbound and Mounjaro, treatments for obesity and type 2 diabetes.

• The company anticipates an additional 200 full-time jobs at the Lebanon site, with a total of 900 people employed when the facility is fully operational.

Eli Lilly has announced a new $5.3 billion investment in its manufacturing site in Lebanon, Indiana, US. This investment increases the firm’s total investment in the site from $3.7 billion to $9 billion. The expansion will increase the manufacturing capacity of active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs) for Zepbound and Mounjaro, GLP-1 treatments indicated for obesity and type 2 diabetes.

David Ricks, Eli Lilly’s chair and CEO, commented on the investment, stating, “This new $5.3 billion investment tops the largest manufacturing investment in our company’s history and, we believe, represents the single largest investment in synthetic medicine API manufacturing in US history. 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.”

The investment will support the expansion of API capacity for tirzepatide, the active ingredient in Zepbound and Mounjaro. Eli Lilly anticipates that this will result in an additional 200 full-time jobs, including engineers, scientists, operating personnel, and lab technicians, at the Lebanon site. Furthermore, the company estimates that a total of 900 people will be employed full-time at the facility when it is fully operational.

A learning and training centre will be part of the larger Limitless Exploration Advanced Pace (LEAP) Research and Innovation District industrial development, Eli Lilly confirmed. The company anticipates that medicine production at the Lebanon site will begin near the end of 2026.

Eli Lilly highlighted that it has committed over $16 billion to develop new manufacturing sites in the US and Europe since 2020, including in a biologic facility in Limerick, Ireland. The company has also invested more than $18 billion to update its existing US manufacturing facilities, including a $1.2 billion investment at its Indianapolis site and an injectable manufacturing facility in Wisconsin, recently acquired from Nexus Pharmaceuticals.