Eli Lilly Investing $4.5B in New Pharmaceutical PlantEli Lilly Investing $4.5B in New Pharmaceutical Plant

The Lilly Medicine Foundry will drive innovation in drug production and make medicines for clinical trials.

Kristen Kazarian, Managing Editor

October 3, 2024

1 Min Read
New technologies developed at the facility will be transferred to Lilly's other sites for full-scale production.
New technologies developed at the Medicine Foundry will be transferred to Lilly's other manufacturing sites for full-scale production.Eli Lilly and Co.

Eli Lilly and Co. has announced a $4.5 billion investment to create the Lilly Medicine Foundry, a new center for advanced manufacturing and drug development.

The unique facility will give Lilly the ability to research new ways of producing medicines, while also scaling up manufacturing of medicines for clinical trials. The first facility of its kind, combining research and manufacturing in a single location, the Medicine Foundry will be located in Indiana's LEAP Research and Innovation District in Lebanon, IN, and will expand the company's investment there to more than $13 billion. 

"As we accelerate our work to discover new medicines for the toughest diseases, we're continuing to invest in state-of-the-art infrastructure to support our growing pipeline," said David A. Ricks, Lilly's chair and CEO. "In addition to supplying high-quality medicine for our clinical studies, this new complex will further strengthen our process development and scale up our manufacturing capabilities to speed delivery of next-generation medicines to patients around the world."

The Medicine Foundry will allow Lilly to further develop innovative solutions to optimize manufacturing processes and increase capacity for clinical trial medicines, while also reducing costs and environmental impact. The flexible facility design will enable production of various molecular therapies, including drug substances for small molecules, biologics, and nucleic acid therapies. New technologies developed at the new plant will be transferred to Lilly's other manufacturing sites for full-scale production.

The pharma company has made significant recent investments in the state: In April 2023, Lilly put $3.7 billion into two new manufacturing sites in Lebanon to expand its network for active ingredients and new modalities; and this May, the company made an additional $5.3 billion commitment to enhance capacity to manufacture active pharmaceutical ingredients for its latest diabetes and obesity medicines. 

About the Author

Kristen Kazarian

Managing Editor

Kristen Kazarian has been a writer and editor for more than three decades. She has worked at several consumer magazines and B2B publications in the fields of food and beverage, packaging, processing, women's interest, local news, health and nutrition, fashion and beauty, automotive, and IT.

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