Eli Lilly’s latest manufacturing expansion will support production of obesity blockbusters and next-gen assets, while the new Lilly Lebanon Advanced Therapies site will take experimental genetic medicines from research to commercialization.
Eli Lilly is pouring $4.5 billion into two manufacturing sites in its home state, including its newly opened Lilly Lebanon Advanced Therapies, the pharma’s first dedicated genetic medicine building.
The site is designed to produce a range of genetic therapy modalities from research to large-scale commercial activities, according to a Thursday release. The pharma giant said it had to create entirely new manufacturing processes to develop and scale these modalities.
The new multibillion-dollar pledge will also be channeled into the development of new process designs and technology at Lilly Lebanon API, which is expected to be the largest API production site in U.S. history, CEO David Ricks said in a statement. The facility is slated to open sometime next year.
As previously announced, Lilly plans on making both Zepbound and Mounjaro—the company’s approved GLP-1 injectables, for weight management and type 2 diabetes, respectively—at the Lebanon API site. Now, the pharma says it will also produce newly marketed obesity pill Foundayo there, plus retatrutide, its experimental triple hormone receptor agonist being tested for obesity and cardiometabolic disease.
According to Lilly, its “evolving pipeline, as well as anticipated demand for its medicines,” prompted the latest investment.
Buoyed by obesity sales, the Indianapolis-based pharma has committed more than $21 billion since 2020 to bolstering manufacturing efforts in Indiana. The weight loss drug giant has positioned Lebanon at the center of its U.S. manufacturing strategy.
