Lilly Breaks Ground on $6.5 Billion Houston Manufacturing Plant
Eli Lilly broke ground on a $6.5 billion Houston plant that will make Foundayo (orforglipron) and other medicines, creating over 600 jobs as part of its $50 billion push to reshore US drug manufacturing.
Eli Lilly and Company (Lilly) recently broke ground in Houston, Texas, one of ten US manufacturing sites — and the fifth location to produce domestic active pharmaceutical ingredients (API) — announced since 2020. As part of the company's $50 billion push to reshore medicine production to meet growing demand at home and export American-made medicines to people around the world, the $6.5 billion Houston site will manufacture Foundayo (orforglipron), Lilly's first synthetic oral GLP-1 medicine, along with other small-molecule medicines and advanced therapeutics.
David A. Ricks, Lilly Chair and CEO, commented: "We are thrilled to break ground on our latest 'medicines made in America' site in the great state of Texas. This $6.5B investment will help change the game for tens of millions of people suffering from overweight, obesity and its consequences like diabetes. We will make and ship Lilly's latest products from Texas to people here at home and around the world."
Edgardo Hernandez, Executive Vice President and President of Lilly Manufacturing Operations, added: "When you invest in a place like Houston, you invest in its people first. This facility will run on the talent of this community, powered by our relationship with San Jacinto College. We're hiring across the greater Houston area to help residents build careers close to home. The facility itself is being built to the highest standards for safety, quality and responsible stewardship of the environment, and every one of these jobs helps bring innovative medicines to the patients counting on them."
In addition to Foundayo, the Houston site will focus on advanced therapeutics that were not within reach even a few years ago. This will include oligonucleotides, a class of medicines that can work at the genetic level to switch off the production of specific proteins to treat disease closer to its source.
Producing this pipeline of medicines at scale requires manufacturing capacity built to match the pace of innovation. Lilly has announced ten US sites since 2020:
- Five will produce API
- Richmond, Virginia; Huntsville, Alabama; Houston, Texas; and two sites in Lebanon, Indiana – Lebanon API and Lilly Medicine Foundry, which will also focus on new production methods and making medicines for clinical trials
- Four will make injectable medicines and manufacture devices
- Research Triangle Park and Concord, North Carolina; Kenosha, Wisconsin; and Lehigh Valley, Pennsylvania
- One will make genetic medicines, Lebanon Advanced Therapies
The Houston site will use state-of-the-art technologies, including machine learning, AI, digitally integrated systems, and advanced data analytics to drive right-first-time execution. Digital automation will be embedded throughout the site to streamline operations and ensure a reliable supply of safe, high-quality medicines.
