By John Russell and Mickey Shuey and Cate Charron
Indiana Business Journal
Eli Lilly and Co. said Wednesday it will invest an additional $4.5 billion at its manufacturing site at the LEAP Lebanon Innovation District in Boone County to create a new center for advanced manufacturing and drug development.
Lilly said the expansion is expected to add 400 full-time jobs for highly skilled workers, including engineers, scientists, operations personnel and lab technicians.
The new funding will bring the Indianapolis-based drugmaker’s total investment in the Lebanon site to more than $13 billion, making the development one of the largest capital projects in Indiana history. It’s also the fourth large investment in the site announced by Lilly in the past 2-½ years.
The new center, called the Lilly Medicine Foundry, will be designed to give the pharmaceutical maker the ability to research new ways of producing medicines, while also scaling up manufacturing of medicines for clinical trials.
“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 Lilly CEO David Ricks in written comments, “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 company is set to hold a press conference Wednesday morning at its Lilly Technology Center south of downtown to make a formal presentation. Expected to join Ricks for the event are Gov. Eric Holcomb, U.S. Sen. Todd Young (R-Indiana), Indiana Secretary of Commerce David Rosenberg and Dr. Dan Skovronsky, Lilly’s chief scientific officer and president of Lilly Research Laboratories.
Lilly called the foundry the first-ever facility of its kind, combining research and manufacturing in a single location.
The company said the foundry will allow it to further develop solutions to optimize manufacturing processes and increase capacity for clinical trial medicines, which are smaller batches in the testing phase for patients.
The foundry is not intended to run full-scale production of medicines. New manufacturing technologies developed at the foundry will be transferred to Lilly’s other manufacturing sites for full-scale production, the company said. The foundry is scheduled to open in late 2027.
“The flexible design of this new facility will enable production of various molecular therapies, including drug substances for small molecules, biologics and nucleic acid therapies,” the company said in written remarks.
Also being constructed now on Lilly’s manufacturing site in Lebanon are more than a dozen buildings for other manufacturing purposes. Lilly broke ground on the site last year and now hundreds of construction workers are converting the rugged area from farmland into a massive industrial complex. Dozens of cranes stretch across the sky.
The earlier rounds of investments were made to fund the construction and equipment of buildings that will make active pharmaceutical ingredients for multibillion-dollar Lilly drugs, such as diabetes treatment Mounjaro, obesity treatment Zepbound, along with cell and gene therapies.
Now, the latest round of investment by Lilly will expand the 600-acre footprint by about 200 acres, the company said. The foundry will be a standalone facility made of seven main buildings. The company said it has not yet pinpointed where on the site the foundry will be located.
The state of Indiana plans to support the new site with infrastructure improvements for roads, water, electricity and other utilities. The state also offered undisclosed incentives tied to Lilly’s investment and employment goals in Lebanon.
“Lilly’s continued investment in Indiana solidifies our state’s role as a hub for cutting-edge science and technology,” Holcomb said in written remarks.
Lilly’s previous investment announcements for the site were an initial $2.1 billion in May 2022, an additional $1.6 billion in April 2023, and an additional $5.3 billion in May 2024.
The most recent round was announced less than five months ago, when Ricks broke the news to a crowd at the Global Economic Summit at the Indiana Convention Center. At the time, Lilly was overwhelmed by demand for Mounjaro, Zepbound and other drugs. The company has said the crunch has eased and pharmacies are getting much of what they ordered.
Rosenberg said the LEAP district is attracting interest from far and wide, with $18 billion in committed capital investment on 2,300 acres since its launch in 2022.
The new investment from Lilly comes amid continued commitments for additional infrastructure to support future development of the LEAP district. (LEAP stands for Limitless Exploration/Advanced Pace).
Citizens Energy Group and Lebanon Utilities last month were approved for $200 million and $125 million in loans, respectively, from the State Revolving Fund to support the expansion of water service to the district. The extension from the Citizens Energy system is expected to provide up to 25 million gallons of water per day.
The project is expected to serve the water needs of the park for the next 15 to 20 years, including Lilly’s manufacturing complex expansion, new research and development facility and additional park tenants, as well as new development in the city.
The IEDC has already allocated at least $45 million for infrastructure work, including roadwork and utilities, to build out the Lilly portion of LEAP, which occupies a 600-acre swath of land east of Interstate 65.
Lilly remains the only company so far to have committed to the LEAP district, although Rosenburg indicated in a statement that additional investment could be on the way.
“Lilly’s increased investment in Indiana is creating tremendous new career opportunities for Hoosiers,” he said in written remarks. “The LEAP district in Lebanon is quickly becoming an international destination, with $18 billion in committed capital investment on 2,300 acres since its launch in 2022. LEAP and the Hardtech Corridor are attracting global leaders, talent and innovation to Indiana.”
