Dive Brief:
- Eli Lilly on Wednesday announced plans to spend $4.5 billion on a new facility that will use advancements in technology for research and manufacturing.
- Dubbed the Lilly Medicine Foundry, the new site will be located in the “LEAP Research and Innovation District” in Lebanon, Indiana. The latest infusion of cash brings Lilly’s investment in the LEAP district to more than $13 billion.
- The facility will allow Lilly to produce medicines for clinical trials while also researching new methods of manufacturing, the company said. Technologies developed at the foundry can then be deployed at other production sites around the world.
Dive Insight:
The Indianapolis-based company, which has achieved tremendous success with its diabetes and weight loss medications in recent years, is looking to the new facility to help with future advances in a variety of treatment types.
Slated to open in late 2027, the foundry is designed to help innovate manufacturing processes, reduce costs and lessen the impacts of drugmaking on the environment. Lilly said it will have a flexible design, allowing for production of medicines ranging from traditional small-molecule drugs to biologics and nucleic acid therapies.
In recent years, Lilly has sought out a number of avenues for investing in next-generation medicines. In 2022, the company announced plans to spend $700 million on a genetic medicine institute in Boston. It’s also struck development deals with smaller RNA-focused companies like Avidity Biosciences, ProQR Therapeutics, QurAlis and Dicerna, the latter of which is now owned by Novo Nordisk.
Lilly’s role in strengthening biotechnology manufacturing in the U.S. drew praise from Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo in the company’s press release. It’s an issue that has been on the radar in Washington recently; the House passed a bill in September that would restrict U.S. companies from working with five Chinese biotechs. President Joe Biden has also issued executive orders on biotechnology manufacturing.
The latest investment in the Lebanon site comes after an announcement in May of $5.3 billion earmarked to build production capacity for Lilly’s obesity and diabetes drugs. All told, the company said its capital commitment in the U.S. comes to more than $23 billion since 2020.
