Lilly to build $5B manufacturing facility in Virginia, near Richmond

As part of its planned $27 billion investment in four new U.S. pharmaceutical manufacturing sites, Eli Lilly on Tuesday announced it will build a $5 billion facility near Richmond, Virginia, which will be the drugmaker’s “first dedicated, fully integrated active pharmaceutical ingredient (API) and drug product facility for Lilly’s emerging bioconjugate platform and monoclonal antibody portfolio.”

In February, Lilly announced a $27 billion investment to build four new U.S. pharmaceutical manufacturing sites — three for APIs and one to manufacture injectable products and devices. At the time, the company said it was investing in infrastructure needed to deliver on its “big bets” on next-generation modalities such as small molecules, biologics, and nucleic acid therapies.

The planned Virginia facility, which is designed to boost its domestic manufacturing of antibody-drug conjugates (ADCs), is the first of the four to be announced by the drugmaker. Lilly expects to announce the other three site locations in 2025 and anticipates that the new manufacturing facilities, which combined will create 10,000 construction jobs and more than 3,000 skilled jobs, will begin making medicines within five years.

The Virginia manufacturing facility will create 1,800 construction jobs and more than 650 new “high-paying” technical jobs, including highly skilled engineers, scientists, operations personnel and lab technicians, the company said.

“Lilly will use advanced technologies such as machine learning, AI and automated systems at the site,” according to Tuesday’s announcement. “This will enable right-first-time execution, all in support of the safe and reliable supply of medicines. To maximize the latest technology, digital integrations and automation, the company plans to engage locally, partnering with local universities and supporting community educational initiatives in Virginia.”

Since 2020, Lilly says it has committed more than $55 billion globally to grow its manufacturing capacity, with more than $50 billion in the U.S.

“Our investment in Virginia underscores our commitment to U.S. innovation and manufacturing — creating high-quality jobs, strengthening communities and advancing the health and well-being of Americans nationwide,” Lilly CEO Dave Ricks said in a statement. “By expanding our domestic capacity, we’re building a secure, resilient supply chain that delivers for patients today and supports the breakthrough medicines of tomorrow.”

Ricks has said that Lilly supports the Trump administration’s goal of bringing pharma manufacturing back to the U.S. but doesn’t see tariffs as the “right mechanism” for reshoring. Ricks has urged President Donald Trump to drop tariffs and embrace tax incentives instead.

In Lilly’s comments submitted in response to an ongoing Department of Commerce probe into whether the importation of certain pharmaceuticals threatens U.S. national security, Lilly warned that “some measures — like tariffs — that increase the cost of medicines or decrease the capital available to manufacturers will actually worsen the problem this Administration seeks to address.”