On Tuesday, Eli Lilly announced a $6.5bn investment to build a plant in Houston, Texas, to produce its experimental obesity pill, orforglipron. This site, which will also manufacture components for cancer and autoimmune treatments, is part of a five-year, $27bn global plan to build four new plants in the US. CEO David Ricks said Houston will become a major production hub for orforglipron, with additional capacity in Indiana.
Texas was chosen for its availability of skilled labor and local expertise in chemical engineering. The project is expected to create approximately 600 permanent jobs and 4,000 construction jobs. This expansion accompanies the rise of Zepbound, Lilly's injectable treatment, and competition with Novo Nordisk over oral GLP-1 alternatives. According to analysts, orforglipron could generate up to $25bn in annual revenue, with a regulatory submission expected by the end of 2025 and a possible accelerated FDA review.
This initiative is part of a trend toward industrial relocation in the United States, encouraged by the Trump administration. Several major laboratories, including Johnson & Johnson, Roche, and Sanofi, have announced massive investments to strengthen US pharmaceutical production. Eli Lilly has already confirmed a $5bn site in Virginia and will soon announce two other locations, with the aim of starting production at all of its new sites within five years.
