Business
Eli Lilly Invests $5.3 Billion to Address Mounjaro and Zepbound Shortages
Eli Lilly, the American pharmaceutical company, has announced that it will invest an additional $5.3 billion in a new manufacturing site to increase production of its weight loss and diabetic drugs Mounjaro and Zepbound.
Over the last year, demand for Mounjaro and Zepbound has significantly surpassed supply, resulting in shortages in the United States and requiring the pharmaceutical giant to invest extensively to scale up its manufacturing.
This latest commitment raises Eli Lilly’s total investment in the site to $9 billion. Eli Lilly’s CEO, David Ricks, stated that this is the company’s largest production investment in nearly 150 years.
Eli Lilly intends the Lebanon location to begin producing medications by the end of 2026 and expand operations through 2028. The corporation first revealed plans to establish new Indiana locations in 2022.
The investment will create 200 full-time jobs at the site, including roles for engineers, scientists, operating workers, and lab technicians, increasing the total workforce to 900 full-time employees, according to Eli Lilly.
Mounjaro and Zepbound have “limited availability”
Eli Lilly expects production at the site to begin at the end of 2026, with operations ramping up through 2028.
According to the Food and Drug Administration, most injections of Mounjaro and Zepbound have “limited availability” in the United States due to growing demand for both medications.
Eli Lilly’s shares, which are up 39% this year, increased marginally to $808.69 on the announcement, according to Forbes.
In recent years, Eli Lilly has concentrated on increasing manufacturing following good research results for tirzepatide. In November, the FDA approved the drug—previously licensed for treating diabetes as Mounjaro—for weight reduction treatment under the brand name Zepbound, joining other weight loss drugs such as Novo Nordisk’s Ozempic and Wegovy.
The popularity of injectable weight-loss treatments has resulted in shortages of all four medications, forcing Novo Nordisk and Eli Lilly to increase manufacturing efforts.
Earlier this year, Eli Lilly raised its full-year revenue estimates by $2 billion, citing “production expansion.”
Source: Forbes