The $3.5 billion plant will make Lilly's injectable weight-loss medications, including retatrutide, the company said in a statement. That next-generation obesity drug has outperformed Lilly's blockbuster drug Zepbound.
Drugmakers are rushing to expand U.S. production as President Donald Trump has threatened to impose import tariffs on pharmaceutical products. Companies including Lilly, Pfizer, and Merck have pledged billions in domestic investment to avoid penalties. Lilly said last year that it would invest over $27 billion in four new U.S. manufacturing sites, and has said it will expand production at others.
"All these sites, including this one, will be really state of the art manufacturing to last many decades to come," said Lilly CEO David Ricks at a Friday press conference in Allentown, Pennsylvania.
Lilly, the world's most valuable drugmaker by market value, has been racing against Danish rival Novo Nordisk to meet surging demand for GLP-1 weight-loss drugs. The company plans to launch its much-anticipated weight-loss pill in several countries at a $150-a-month cash price as it works towards U.S. approval in the coming months.
"We're finding these medicines are quite popular, but we still have work to do to expand access, to improve affordability," Ricks said on Friday. Construction at the Lehigh Valley site is expected to begin in 2026 and the plant will be operational in 2031, the company said.
The site was selected from more than 300 applications and was chosen in part for its proximity to universities and its existing infrastructure, the company said.The investment is the largest by a life sciences company in Pennsylvania history and will create at least 850 new jobs, said Governor Josh Shapiro in a statement.
Shapiro said at the Friday press conference that state officials are working to ensure permitting moves quickly for the new plant.
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