Eli Lilly is injecting $4.5 billion into a new manufacturing and drug development factory near its hometown of Indianapolis, in a move aimed at bringing clinical manufacturing in-house and speeding up clinical trials.
The 1.2 million-square-foot building, dubbed the Lilly Medicine Foundry, is set to open in 2027. It’s located in the LEAP Research and Innovation District in Lebanon, IN, making this the fourth investment Lilly has made in the city of Lebanon. The site is expected to add 400 new jobs.
Lilly has traditionally outsourced the majority of clinical-stage manufacturing to third-party CDMOs. But once the new facility comes online in 2027, the company anticipates the bulk of its global clinical pipeline will be made internally, a spokesperson said. This will give Lilly more “control over development” which may help globally speed up its clinical trials, the spokesperson added.
However, the Indianapolis-based company said it will still selectively use external CDMO third parties, depending on Lilly’s pipeline growth.
The new factory will have the capability to make drugs ranging from small molecules to biologics for Lilly’s clinical trials. It will also contain laboratories, warehouses and production facilities, according to the spokesperson.
As well as making clinical-stage products, the new site will also research “new ways” of making medicines such as through improving the manufacturing process, according to Wednesday’s announcement.
Indiana is also putting money into the region, including investing in improving the roads, water and electricity, all of which will “support” Lilly’s new site. Further, the state will provide “economic incentives” connected to Lilly’s new build and “employment goals” in Lebanon, the company said.
Lilly has a close relationship with Indiana. It’s been based there since 1876, and it employs about 12,000 people in Indianapolis, having continually built up its presence in the state. Most recently, the company invested $5.3 billion to increase active pharmaceutical ingredient manufacturing in May. Lilly also poured $1.6 billion into expanding two manufacturing sites in Lebanon that the company originally built in May 2022. Those sites cost a total of $2.1 billion.