Eli Lilly has announced an ambitious plan to invest at least $27 billion to establish four new pharmaceutical manufacturing sites across the United States. This strategic move aims to enhance the company’s capacity in producing pharmaceutical products, with three of the facilities dedicated to manufacturing active pharmaceutical ingredients and the fourth focused on injectable drugs.
As part of its expansion, Lilly anticipates revealing the locations of these sites later this year, with the expectation that production will commence within a five-year timeframe. Chief Executive David Ricks conveyed the company’s optimistic outlook regarding its drug development pipeline, which spans various therapeutic areas such as cardiometabolic health, oncology, immunology, and neuroscience.
He stated, "Lilly's optimism about the potential of our pipeline across therapeutic areas drives our unprecedented commitment to our domestic manufacturing build-out." Following the announcement, Lilly’s shares experienced a slight uptick, rising 1% during late-afternoon trading on Wednesday. This increase adds to a significant 18% gain in the company’s stock price observed so far in 2025. The planned manufacturing sites are projected to create over 3,000 high-skilled jobs, in addition to nearly 10,000 construction jobs during the development phase, according to the company’s estimates.
Ricks emphasized the impact of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, which was enacted in 2017 under President Trump's first term, stating that this legislation has been crucial for Lilly's domestic manufacturing initiatives. He added that it is essential for such policies to be extended this year to support further investments. Over the past few years, Lilly has committed $23 billion to capital expansion in the United States from 2020 through 2024. In a notable development, Lilly recently launched higher doses of Zepbound, also known as tirzepatide, in single-dose vials while simultaneously reducing prices for two smaller dosages of the weight-loss drug targeted at self-pay patients.
Additionally, Organovo announced that Lilly will acquire its FXR program, including its lead drug asset FXR314, which is aimed at treating inflammatory bowel disease. Earlier this month, Eli Lilly reported fourth-quarter sales that met expectations and reiterated its revenue guidance for 2025, projecting growth at a rate consistent with the previous year..