Eli Lilly and Boehringer Cancel Investments
A clear signal to Berlin: the pharmaceutical companies Eli Lilly and Boehringer Ingelheim are canceling planned investments in Germany.
One company explicitly justifies this with the German government's savings plans in the healthcare sector, while the other refers to this, among other things. In the case of the US company, this involves a sum in the billions that was actually intended for a new site in Alzey in Rhineland-Palatinate, while the German company is talking about a high three-digit million sum.
The head of Eli Lilly, Dave Ricks, called the planned healthcare reform a "terrible signal" in the "Handelsblatt" newspaper. "Germany will fall to last place among European markets when it comes to supporting our industry."
Eli Lilly's Facility Shell Almost Finished
Eli Lilly had previously planned to invest $2.5 billion in the new production facility in Alzey. Against the backdrop of the health policy course in Germany, it is now planned to reduce the outstanding scope of the project by 50% compared to the original plan, as reported.
The shell of the production facility in Alzey is reportedly almost complete. The interior work is at an advanced stage, and 300 employees have already been hired there. Previous plans had envisaged hiring up to 1,000 skilled workers there.
Eli Lilly has now announced that initially only the "minimum scope of the high-tech production site in Alzey" is to be completed. Commissioning with reduced capacity is still planned for 2027.
Boehringer Germany: Keeping Pace with USA and Asia
The pharmaceutical company Boehringer Ingelheim, based in Rhineland-Palatinate, has announced that it is halting planned expenditure in Germany for the years 2027 to 2030 with a total volume of €900 million. This was also previously reported in the Handelsblatt.
Boehringer Ingelheim cites the difficult conditions in Germany, including the German government's plans to cut healthcare spending, as reasons for the move. These plans include higher discounts that drug companies will have to grant health insurance companies in future.
Boehringer also refers to the greater dynamism in other markets. There is also talk of increased pressure from the USA. Like other pharmaceutical companies, Boehringer Ingelheim had concluded a kind of agreement with the US government in order to be exempted from pharmaceutical tariffs. One condition for this is to invest in production and research in America.
"As things stand, the next innovation is currently not going to Germany," Boehringer's Head of Germany, Médard Schoenmaeckers, told Handelsblatt. "We have to keep pace with developments in the USA and Asia." The investments that have been halted in Germany were primarily intended for the expansion of infrastructure at local sites, including new laboratory buildings.
© dpa-infocom, dpa:260603-930-169449/2
