$9 billion! Eli Lilly invests to expand telportipad production capacity

　　On May 24, Eli Lilly announced that its investment in its Lebanon, Indiana manufacturing site has more than doubled, with a new investment of $5.3 billion, bringing the company's total investment in the manufacturing site from $3.7 billion to $9 billion. The expansion will increase Eli Lilly's ability to produce tirpotide, Zepbound injection, and Mounjaro injection active pharmaceutical ingredients (API), so that more patients with chronic diseases such as obesity and type 2 diabetes can benefit from it.

　　Since its launch, the sales of telportin have been soaring. The blood sugar-lowering version Mounjaro continues to maintain a strong growth rate. After soaring more than 10 times to US$5.163 billion in 2023, it soared 217% in Q1 2024 to US$1.807 billion. The weight loss brand Zepbound was approved for listing in early November 2023. In less than two months, it generated nearly US$200 million in revenue, and sales in Q1 2024 exceeded US$500 million. The two products earned a total of US$2.324 billion in Q1, and it is no problem to exceed US$10 billion by the end of the year.

　　Eli Lilly has stated that GLP-1 drugs are already in short supply and that it will continue to expand production capacity in the future, with the largest capacity growth expected in the second half of this year.

　　In fact, driven by the research results of telportin, Eli Lilly began to significantly expand its production scale in 2020. The reason for taking this risky strategic investment decision is that Eli Lilly has long captured the urgent need for therapeutic drugs for patients with type 2 diabetes and obesity, and it hopes that after Mounjaro and Zepbound are approved, they can provide these drugs efficiently to their patient groups respectively.

　　Since 2020, Eli Lilly has invested more than $16 billion to develop new manufacturing sites in the United States and Europe. New manufacturing sites outside Indiana include Research Triangle Park and Concord in North Carolina, Limerick in Ireland, and Alzey in Germany. In addition, the company has invested an additional $1.2 billion to update existing manufacturing facilities in Indianapolis and recently acquired an injectable manufacturing plant from Nexus Pharmaceuticals. These total manufacturing investments exceed $18 billion.

　　The Lebanon production base, where the investment is increased, is located in the LEAP research and innovation zone in Indiana. As part of the additional investment in the production base, Eli Lilly expects to add 200 full-time jobs for highly skilled workers such as engineers, scientists, operators and laboratory technicians. When the plant is fully operational, it is expected to have 900 full-time employees. In addition, more than 5,000 construction jobs will be provided during the development of the project.

　　"Today's announcement represents the largest manufacturing investment in our company's history and, we believe, the largest investment in synthetic drug substance manufacturing in U.S. history," said David A. Ricks, chairman and chief executive officer of Eli Lilly. "This multi-site campus will produce our newest medicines, including Zepbound and Mounjaro, support pipeline growth, and leverage the latest technology and automation for maximum efficiency, safety and quality control. Importantly, we are investing in our home state of Indiana, creating high-paying, advanced manufacturing, engineering and science jobs for hundreds of families."

　　It is worth mentioning that Novo Holdings, the controlling shareholder of Novo Nordisk, announced in February this year that it would merge and acquire Catalent for US$16.5 billion, while Novo Nordisk acquired three of the filling and finished product bases for US$11 billion.

　　As the overall market demand for GLP-1 products increases, Novo Nordisk is also continuously increasing investment in production bases to expand the production capacity of semaglutide. Novo Nordisk has also announced that it will invest more than 42 billion Danish kroner (about 6.1 billion US dollars) to expand its existing production facilities in Kalundborg, Denmark, starting in 2023 to produce current and future severe chronic disease product portfolios, including GLP-1 products.

　　Today, both tepoxetine and semaglutide are in short supply. Production capacity has also become a key factor limiting the further expansion of their products. The competition between the two giants in the GLP-1 market has, to some extent, evolved into a battle to overcome production capacity.

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