“In Such Short Supply They Can’t Keep Them on Shelves”: Lilly to Invest $1 Billion to Expand GLP-1 Production

Eli Lilly is investing more than $1 billion with its contract manufacturing organization (CMO) partner to expand production of GLP-1 injectables in response to surging demand for obesity and diabetes treatments.

According to BioPharma Dive and other foreign media outlets on the 3rd (local time), Eli Lilly and CMO Resilience announced that they would jointly invest a total of $750 million (approximately 1.125 trillion won) to expand pharmaceutical manufacturing capacity in the United States. The investment is focused on producing GLP-1 obesity and diabetes treatments.

Under the investment, Resilience will manufacture Lilly’s KwikPen injectable products for diabetes and obesity treatment at its manufacturing facility in the Cincinnati area of Ohio. Site preparation for the plant expansion is already underway, with full operations targeted for early 2027.

The expansion is expected to create at least 400 new jobs. This will bring the total workforce across Resilience’s two facilities to more than 1,400 employees. Since the companies began their partnership in 2023, they have produced more than 150 million doses of medicines in vials and pre-filled syringes.

The large-scale investment reflects the explosive growth of the GLP-1 drug market. Morgan Stanley projected that the global GLP-1 market could more than double from its current size to $190 billion (approximately 285 trillion won) by 2035, driven by the adoption of oral treatments and expanded insurance coverage.

Lilly has invested heavily in manufacturing facilities in recent years to meet demand. Since September last year, it has committed more than $16 billion (approximately 24 trillion won) to construction at three sites—in Houston, Huntsville and Lehigh County—for injectable and oral obesity treatments. The company also plans to invest an additional $4.5 billion (approximately 6.75 trillion won) at two sites in Lebanon, Indiana.

William Mars, CEO of Resilience, said in a statement, “We are proud of what we have accomplished with Lilly,” adding, “This investment reflects our long-term commitment to building the largest and most advanced sterile injectable and device assembly and packaging facilities in the United States.”