Eli Lilly broke ground in Houston, Texas, one of ten U.S. manufacturing sites — and the fifth location to produce domestic active pharmaceutical ingredients (API) — announced since 2020.
As part of the company's $50 billion push to reshore medicine production to meet growing demand at home and export American-made medicines to people around the world, the $6.5 billion Houston site will manufacture Foundayo (orforglipron), Lilly's first synthetic oral GLP-1 medicine, along with other small-molecule medicines and advanced therapeutics.
Foundayo is a GLP-1 receptor agonist approved in the U.S. for weight management in adults with obesity, or adults with overweight and a weight-related condition. It is a small molecule rather than a peptide; small molecules are manufactured using more well-established technologies and therefore can be more readily scalable. Foundayo is currently under regulatory review in more than 40 countries, with a full global rollout targeted for 2027. Lilly is also studying Foundayo for other uses, including type 2 diabetes and obstructive sleep apnea, with data expected later this year.
David A. Ricks, Lilly Chair and CEO, "We are thrilled to break ground on our latest 'medicines made in America' site in the great state of Texas. This $6.5B investment will help change the game for tens of millions of people suffering from overweight, obesity and its consequences like diabetes. We will make and ship Lilly's latest products from Texas to people here at home and around the world."
Building a talent pipeline in Houston
Lilly is providing $12.5 million to support a relationship with San Jacinto College to give Houstonians a pathway into advanced chemical synthesis manufacturing careers, with no prior experience required. This relationship will focus on developing training pathways and expanding the equipment and facility capacity needed to produce technicians, operators, maintenance professionals, and other manufacturing talent, while also leveraging Lilly experts to support curriculum development and instructor readiness and preparation. Separately, Lilly is providing a $2.5 million charitable donation to the San Jacinto College Foundation to support scholarships for eligible students.
Lilly is currently hiring in Houston and expects the new facility to create more than 600 high-wage jobs like engineers, scientists, operations personnel, and lab technicians — along with 4,000 construction jobs as the site is being built and brought online.
Edgardo Hernandez, Executive Vice President and President of Lilly Manufacturing Operations, said, "When you invest in a place like Houston, you invest in its people first. This facility will run on the talent of this community, powered by our relationship with San Jacinto College. We're hiring across the greater Houston area to help residents build careers close to home. The facility itself is being built to the highest standards for safety, quality and responsible stewardship of the environment, and every one of these jobs helps bring innovative medicines to the patients counting on them."
In addition to Foundayo, the Houston site will focus on advanced therapeutics that were not within reach even a few years ago. This will include oligonucleotides, a class of medicines that can work at the genetic level to switch off the production of specific proteins to treat disease closer to its source.
Texas Governor Greg Abbott said, "Texas is the global hub for life sciences. This $6.5 billion Lilly investment in Houston is the largest active pharmaceutical ingredient project in Texas history and will create more than 600 high-wage jobs, right here in Texas. Texas will produce these medicines at home so we can deliver life-changing treatments to millions of Americans."
The Houston site will use state-of-the-art technologies, including machine learning, AI, digitally integrated systems and advanced data analytics to drive right-first-time execution. Digital automation will be embedded throughout the site to streamline operations and ensure a reliable supply of safe, high-quality medicines.
