An injection pen for Eli Lilly and Company’s weight loss drug Zepbound is on display in New York City on December 11, 2023.
Brendan McDermid | Reuters
Eli Lilly and Company said on Friday it would invest an additional $5.3 billion manufacturing plant Increasing availability of its popular weight loss drug Zepbound, diabetes treatment Mounjaro and other medications in Lebanon and Indiana.
Demand for these treatments far outstripped supply last year, spurring shortage In the United States, forcing the pharmaceutical giant to invest heavily to expand its production.
This new commitment brings Eli Lilly’s total investment in the plant to $9 billion. CEO David Ricks said in a statement that this makes it the largest manufacturing investment in Eli Lilly’s nearly 150-year history.
Eli Lilly expects to start producing drugs at the Lebanon plant by the end of 2026 and scale operations by 2028. declare It plans to build a new factory in Indiana in 2022.
The facility will specifically increase Eli Lilly’s capacity to produce Zepbound and Mounjaro’s active ingredients, known as tirzepatide. The company calls these treatments incretin drugs, which mimic certain gut hormones to suppress appetite and regulate blood sugar in humans.
“This multi-site campus will manufacture our newest medicines, including Zepbound and Mounjaro, support pipeline growth and leverage the latest technology and automation to achieve maximum efficiency, safety and quality control,” Ricks said in a statement.
Eli Lilly said that when the plant is fully operational, it will have 900 employees, including engineers, scientists, operators and laboratory technicians.
The company has spent more than $18 billion since 2020 to build, expand and purchase manufacturing facilities in the United States and Europe.
Eli Lilly has multiple manufacturing sites that are “expanding or under construction,” Chief Financial Officer Anat Ashkenazi told investors on an earnings call last month. These include the Lebanon facility and another in Indiana, two facilities in North Carolina, a facility in Ireland, a facility in Germany and a seventh facility the company recently acquired from Nexus Pharmaceuticals.
Investors cheered Eli Lilly, which raised its full-year revenue forecast by $2 billion, in part because of confidence in ramping up production of Zepbound, Mounjaro and other incretin drugs through the remainder of the year.
“Four months into the year, we have a clearer understanding of these capacity nodes and feel more confident,” Ashkenazy said on a conference call.
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