Eli Lilly and Company has more than doubled its investment in its Lebanon, Indiana, manufacturing site with a new $5.3 billion commitment, increasing the company’s total investment in this site from $3.7 billion to $9 billion. This expansion will enhance Lilly’s capacity to manufacture active pharmaceutical ingredients (API) for Zepbound® (tirzepatide) injection and Mounjaro® (tirzepatide) injection so that more adults with chronic diseases like obesity and type 2 diabetes may benefit from these treatments.
Since 2020, Lilly has committed more than $16 billion to develop new manufacturing sites in the U.S. and Europe. New locations outside Indiana include Research Triangle Park and Concord, North Carolina; Limerick, Ireland; and Alzey, Germany. Separately, the company has invested an additional $1.2 billion to update existing manufacturing facilities in Indianapolis and recently acquired an injectable manufacturing facility in Pleasant Prairie, Wisconsin, from Nexus Pharmaceuticals. Together, these manufacturing investments total more than $18 billion.
“Today’s announcement tops the largest manufacturing investment in our company’s history and, we believe, represents the single largest investment in synthetic medicine API manufacturing in U.S. history,” said David A. Ricks, Lilly’s chair and CEO. “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. Importantly, we are investing in our home state of Indiana, creating high-wage, advanced manufacturing, engineering and science jobs for hundreds of current and future Hoosier families.”
As part of this additional investment in the Lebanon site, located within Indiana’s LEAP Research and Innovation District, Lilly expects to add 200 full-time jobs for highly skilled workers such as engineers, scientists, operating personnel and lab technicians, resulting in an estimated 900 full-time employees when the facility is fully operational. Additionally, there will be more than 5,000 construction jobs during the site’s development.
Since breaking ground at its Lebanon manufacturing site in 2023, Lilly has transformed a significant portion of the nearly 600 acres within the complex into an active construction site. The company expects to begin making medicines in Lebanon toward the end of 2026 – with operations scaling up through 2028.
