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Eli Lilly reveals plans for new high-tech parenteral manufacturing site

Once operational in 2027, Eli Lilly’s new $2.5 billion German manufacturing site will play a vital role in supporting the company’s incretin supply.

Eli Lilly reveals plans for new high-tech parenteral manufacturing site

Credit: Maurice NORBERT / Shutterstock.com

Eli Lilly and Company has announced that it plans to construct a new $2.5 billion parenteral (injectable) manufacturing site in Alzey, Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany.

Supporting European parenteral manufacture and supply

Alongside expanding the company’s global parenteral product and device manufacturing network, the new facility will support the higher demand for Eli Lilly’s medicines, including its diabetes and obesity portfolio.

The new site “will play a vital role in bolstering Lilly’s incretin supply”, according to the pharmaceutical giant. Up to 1,000 people, such as engineers, operators and scientists will be employed to leverage state-of-the-art technology. This includes automation and high-speed manufacturing lines.

“This state-of-the-art parenteral site with the latest technology will enable us to continue to deliver medicines with safety first and quality always around the world,” stated Edgardo Hernandez, Executive Vice President and President of Eli Lilly’s manufacturing operations.

With the planned additional manufacturing facility in Alzey, the company will operate a total of six manufacturing sites in Europe.

The investment “shows good innovative products can be reliably developed and produced in Germany. But we will continue to improve the framework conditions for research and production. This will ensure that patients have rapid access to new treatment options and make us more independent from fragile supply chains,” commented Professor Dr Karl Lauterbach, Federal Minister of Health.

Eli Lilly’s new German-located facility for parenteral products “creates new and future-oriented jobs… [and] will make an important contribution to industrial value creation in Germany with high-tech production facilities and research and development,” shared Dr Robert Habeck, Vice Chancellor and Federal Minister for Economic Affairs and Climate Action.

While the new site is anticipated to be operational at the start of 2027, the investment in Alzey is contingent upon finalisation of government permitting and local approvals, Eli Lilly stated.

To support reliable medicine supply, since 2020, Eli Lilly has announced investments of over $11 billion in its global manufacturing footprint.

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