Eli Lilly to spend $5.3 billion to boost Zepbound, Mounjaro manufacturing

By Eleanor Laise

Amid surging demand, drugmaker makes largest manufacturing investment in its history

Eli Lilly & Co. said Friday that it has more than doubled its investment in a Lebanon, Ind., site to boost manufacturing capacity for its popular weight-loss drug Zepbound and diabetes treatment Mounjaro.

The Indianapolis drugmaker said a new $5.3 billion commitment will bring its total spending on the site to $9 billion. That makes it the largest manufacturing investment in the company's history, Lilly CEO David Ricks said in a statement. In addition to making Zepbound, Mounjaro and other drugs, the campus will support pipeline growth and have about 900 full-time employees when fully operational, the company said.

The news comes as both Lilly and competitor Novo Nordisk (NVO) are racing to meet the surging demand for their diabetes and weight-loss medications. Most doses of Zepbound and Mounjaro are listed as having limited availability through the second quarter of this year, according to the Food and Drug Administration's drug-shortages database. Several doses of Novo Nordisk's weight-loss drug Wegovy also have limited availability, according to the FDA.

The supply issues have left room for online health platforms to market cheaper compounded versions of the drugs. Hims & Hers Health Inc. (HIMS) announced earlier this week that it would offer compounded GLP-1 drugs, saying the products would let customers avoid "the shortages and costs that are currently limiting access to the branded medications."

As it works to expand manufacturing capacity, Novo Nordisk is gradually increasing shipments of the three lowest doses of Wegovy, although total demand continues to exceed the supply, the drugmaker said in a supply update earlier this month.

Lilly broke ground on the Lebanon site last year and will start making drugs there in late 2026, with operations scaling up through 2028, the company said.

Since 2020, Lilly has committed more than $16 billion to new manufacturing sites in the U.S. and Europe, spent an additional $1.2 billion to update existing facilities and acquired a facility to manufacture injectable drugs from Nexus Pharmaceuticals, the company said in a release.

Lilly shares (LLY) were little changed Friday morning, while Novo Nordisk's American depositary receipts were down 0.3%.

-Eleanor Laise

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05-24-24 1033ET

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