US-based pharmaceutical company Eli Lilly and Company (Lilly) is set to invest $3bn in the expansion of its recently acquired manufacturing facility in Kenosha County, Wisconsin.
In April this year, Lilly signed an agreement to acquire Nexus Pharmaceutical’s manufacturing facility in Pleasant Prairie, Wisconsin.
The acquisition, together with planned expansion and additional purchase of land and an adjacent warehouse, brings the company’s total investment in Wisconsin to $4bn.
The proposed expansion will focus on manufacturing injectable medicines, device assembly and packaging for medicines across multiple therapeutic areas.
It is expected to add 750 highly skilled jobs to the existing workforce of 100 people, including operators, technicians, engineers, and scientists.
Lilly intends to use advanced automation, including guided vehicles, robotics, and production equipment, to advance medicine production at the site.
Also, the facility will be equipped with digital automation, from data management to operations, to advance its processes and accuracy, focusing on safety and quality.
The expansion will extend its global injectable product manufacturing network, to address the growing demand for diabetes, obesity drugs, and future pipeline, said the US drugmaker.
Lilly Manufacturing Operations president and executive vice president Edgardo Hernandez said: “Today’s announcement represents our single largest US manufacturing investment outside our home state of Indiana and will add to our ability to expand capacity to make both our existing and future pipeline of medicines right here in the Midwest.
“We look forward to bringing high-wage, advanced manufacturing, engineering and science jobs to people in Wisconsin, a state that is becoming a critical geography in our global manufacturing operations.”
In a separate development, US-based contract development and manufacturing organisation (CDMO) Cambrex has announced a new partnership with Lilly.
Under the new partnership, Cambrex will provide Lilly’s biotech collaborators with enhanced access to its advanced clinical development capabilities.
Cambrex will provide Lilly’s early external collaboration arm, Lilly Catalyze360-ExploR&D, with drug substance, analytical service labs and R&D expertise for its collaborators.
Cambrex early-stage development and testing president Brandon Fincher said: “We are excited to support Lilly’s mission to enable external biotech collaborators to expedite their product development.
“Our Longmont facility offers all services required to advance early-stage small molecules into the clinic with speed, flexibility and scientific excellence. We look forward to propelling Lilly Cataylze360 collaborators forward on an efficient path to success with their products.”
