LEBANON, IND. — Eli Lilly and Co. (NYSE: LLY) has unveiled plans to invest $4.5 billion to create the Lilly Medicine Foundry, a new center for advanced manufacturing and drug development in Lebanon, about 27 miles northwest of Indianapolis.
The Medicine Foundry, slated to open in late 2027, will be located in Indiana’s LEAP Research and Innovation District. The project brings Lilly’s total investment in the area to more than $13 billion. Earlier this year, Lilly released plans for a $5.3 billion expansion of its pharmaceutical manufacturing facility in Lebanon.
“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,” says David 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.”
Lilly says the flexible design of the new facility will enable production of various molecular therapies, including drug substances for small molecules, biologics and nucleic acid therapies. New technologies developed at the Medicine Foundry will be transferred to Lilly’s other manufacturing sites for full-scale production. The site’s location in LEAP will support close collaboration with Lilly research lab teams in Indianapolis and Lilly manufacturing sites in Lebanon.
The State of Indiana will support the new facility with infrastructure improvements for roads, water, electricity and other utilities. The state will also offer economic incentives tied to Lilly’s investment and employment goals in Lebanon. Once fully operational, the Medicine Foundry is expected to add 400 full-time jobs for highly skilled workers, including engineers, scientists, operations personnel and lab technicians.
The LEAP district in Lebanon has received $18 billion in committed capital investment on 2,300 acres since its launch in 2022, according to Indiana Secretary of Commerce David Rosenberg.
Based locally in Indianapolis, Lilly is a pharmaceutical company with offerings for Alzheimer’s disease, pain management, cancer treatment, immune disease, diabetes and obesity. The company’s stock price opened at $881 per share Wednesday, relatively unchanged from $879.99 one year ago.
— Kristin Harlow