Eli Lilly has announced plans to construct a new $2.5 billion high-tech manufacturing site in Germany as the drugmaker looks to boost capacity amid surging demands for tirzepatide.
According to Lilly, the new facility, located in Alzey, Rhineland-Palatinate, will further expand the company's global parenteral product and device manufacturing network and support an increased demand for Lilly's medicines — especially its diabetes and obesity portfolio.
The manufacturing site — the drugmaker's 6th in Europe — will employ up to 1,000 highly skilled workers such as engineers, operators and scientists, and will leverage state-of-the-art technology, including automation and high-speed manufacturing lines.
Earlier this month, the U.S. FDA approved Eli Lilly's tirzepatide injection, branded Zepbound, for chronic weight management in adults with obesity or overweight. Tirzepatide, branded as Mounjaro, was approved by the FDA last May for adults with type 2 diabetes.
Zepbound, which Lilly expects to be available in the U.S. by the end of the year, will go head to head against Novo Nordisk's blockbuster, Wegovy, in an surging obesity market now projected to hit $100 billion in sales by 2030. Analysts say tirzepatide has the potential to usurp Humira to become the best-selling drug of all time. According to UBS analyst Colin Bristow, the drug is expected to generate annual sales of $25 billion — a figure that would exceed the previous record of $20.7 billion set by AbbVie's Humira in 2021.
