Eli Lilly and Company (Lilly) plans to invest $27bn in building four new pharmaceutical manufacturing plants in the US to boost its domestic drug production.
The move will increase the company’s total US capital expansion commitments to over $50bn since 2020.
The investment comes as the drugmaker faces potential drug import duties from the Trump administration.
Three of the new US sites will produce active pharmaceutical ingredients (API), bringing back small molecule chemical synthesis capabilities and improving Lilly’s supply chain. The fourth site will expand the company’s global parenteral manufacturing network for future injectable therapies.
The drugmaker expects to create over 3,000 jobs at the new sites, including positions for engineers, scientists, operations personnel, and lab technicians. The company also anticipates generating nearly 10,000 construction jobs during the sites’ development.
The new sites are expected to bring additional economic benefits to local communities, including increased spending, higher tax revenue, economic diversification, improved infrastructure, population growth, and new training and development opportunities.
Lilly chair and CEO David Ricks said: “Lilly’s optimism about the potential of our pipeline across therapeutic areas, cardiometabolic health, oncology, immunology and neuroscience, drives our unprecedented commitment to our domestic manufacturing build-out.
“Our confidence positions us to help reinvigorate domestic manufacturing, which will benefit hard-working American families and increase exports of medicines made in the US.
“This bold move reflects our commitment to stay ahead of anticipated demand for safe, high-quality, FDA-approved medicines of the future.”
From 2020 to 2024, Lilly’s total domestic capital expansion commitments reached $23bn.
The $50bn investment includes new sites in Research Triangle Park and Concord, North Carolina, as well as new sites at the LEAP Innovation District in Lebanon, Indiana.
It also covers expansions and updates to several manufacturing facilities in Indianapolis and the development of the new Lilly Medicine Foundry in Lebanon, Indiana.
Additionally, it includes the acquisition and expansion plan of Lilly’s manufacturing site in Kenosha County, Wisconsin. The $3bn investment was announced in December 2024.
Lilly plans to announce the locations of all four new sites in 2025 and expects the facilities to start producing medicines for patients within five years.
