Eli Lilly CEO David A. Ricks speaks at a press convention at Technology Park in Houston, Monday, Sept. 23, 2025. The corporate introduced plans for a $6.5 billion biomanufacturing plant in north Houston. (Raquel Natalicchio/Houston Chronicle through Getty Pictures)
Raquel Natalicchio | Houston Chronicle | Getty Pictures
Eli Lilly on Tuesday mentioned it would spend $6 billion to construct a producing plant in Huntsville, Alabama, to assist increase manufacturing of its intently watched experimental weight problems tablet and different medication.
It’s the third facility in a string of latest deliberate U.S. investments by the drugmaker. Eli Lilly introduced in February that it could spend at the least $27 billion to construct 4 new home manufacturing vegetation, including to $23 billion in earlier investments since 2020.
The corporate mentioned it expects development of the Alabama plant to start out this 12 months and for it to be accomplished in 2032.
“As we speak’s funding continues the onshoring of energetic pharmaceutical ingredient (API) manufacturing, strengthening provide chain resilience and dependable entry to medicines for sufferers within the U.S.,” mentioned Eli Lilly CEO David Ricks in a launch.
That added manufacturing capability for Eli Lilly’s weight problems tablet, orforglipron, is essential as the corporate races to file for its approval and tries to keep up its dominance within the booming marketplace for GLP-1s. The corporate and its chief rival, Novo Nordisk, confronted provide shortages for his or her current weekly injections after demand skyrocketed within the U.S. lately, although they’ve managed to alleviate these points.
Eli Lily’s tablet in November received a precedence overview voucher from the Meals and Drug Administration, which is able to considerably velocity up the regulator’s evaluation of the drug to doubtlessly just a few months.
Drugmakers have been scrambling to spice up their manufacturing within the U.S. after threats by President Donald Trump to impose tariffs on prescribed drugs imported into the U.S. However considerations about these potential tariffs have eased following current drug pricing offers with Trump that exempt corporations from the levies.
Eli Lilly mentioned the Alabama web site will deliver 450 jobs to the world, together with engineers, scientists, operations personnel and lab technicians, in addition to 3,000 development jobs.
