Dive Brief:
- Eli Lilly said it will build a $6.5 billion factory in Houston focused on manufacturing the company’s first obesity pill and other small molecule medicines.
- The 236-acre site will produce active pharmaceutical ingredients, among them orforglipron, a small, oral GLP-1 receptor agonist, according to a news release. The molecule agonist is up for regulatory consideration later this year.
- Located at Generation Park, the factory will create 615 full-time jobs for the area, such as engineers, scientists and lab technicians, according to the Greater Houston Partnership. Construction is expected to finish in the next five years.
Dive Insight:
The Houston facility is the second of four U.S. manufacturing sites Lilly plans to unveil this year as part of a larger pledge to bolster domestic medicine production.
The first location was announced last week and is set for Goochland County, outside of Richmond, Virginia. That $5 billion facility will make ingredients used in cancer and autoimmune treatments.
Like the Virginia project, Lilly’s Houston facility is receiving state support. It has been approved for a Texas Enterprise Fund grant of $5.5 million under the Texas Jobs, Energy, Technology and Innovation program. The biopharmaceutical project is one of the first to be approved under Texas’ new program.
"Our new Houston site will enhance Lilly's ability to manufacture orforglipron at scale and, if approved, help fulfill the medicine's potential as a metabolic health treatment for tens of millions of people worldwide,” Lilly CEO David Ricks said in a statement.
Earlier this year, Lilly committed to investing more than $50 billion to construct and refurbish its U.S. factories as a way to reshore “critical capabilities of small molecule chemical synthesis.” In total, the company is expecting its four factories to employ more than 3,000 technicians, scientists and other personnel, as well as support 10,000 construction jobs. Lilly plans to unveil the locations and other details about its two remaining U.S. plants this year.
“The Lilly project represents one of the largest for-profit life sciences investments in Texas history and is a powerful endorsement of Houston’s growing position as a global hub for innovation, advanced manufacturing, and biomedical excellence,” Greater Houston Partnership CEO Steve Kean said in a statement.
Lilly considered more than 300 competing locations before deciding on Houston for its next manufacturing facility. The company said it evaluated factors like workforce potential, local incentives, access to utilities and transportation, as well as business environment.
Lilly plans to leverage digital automation at the Houston facility, such as machine learning, artificial intelligence and advanced analytics. To ensure a strong talent pipeline, the company said it will collaborate with local universities and invest in educational initiatives across Texas.
San Jacinto College is scheduled to open the Center for Biotechnology, a workforce development effort, at its Generation Park campus later this month. The center will be the only certified provider of National Institute for Bioprocessing Research and Training in the southern U.S., according to the Greater Houston Partnership.
In addition to facility jobs, the Houston project is expected to support 4,000 construction jobs. Lilly estimated that for every dollar invested, up to four dollars will be generated by the local economy.
The 150-year-old pharmaceutical giant has more than 49,000 employees around the world, with nearly half of them based in the United States. Its domestic manufacturing facilities are located in Indiana, North Carolina, New Jersey, Wisconsin and Puerto Rico.
