The company will invest $72 million to install a modern vial-filling line.
Over the last 10 years, Eli Lilly and Company has invested $5 billion in its US manufacturing facilities. Since 2012, the company has invested over $1.2 billion in its production sites for diabetes products. In March 2017, the firm announced that it would be investing $850 million in its U.S. operations in 2017.
The investments in 2017 cover all of its activities, from research laboratories to manufacturing sites to general and administrative facilities. The investments are in response to a growth in demand for existing products and anticipated needs. Some of these investment dollars will be directed towards projects that are already underway, while others will fund new projects.
Lilly President and CEO David A. Ricks commented on the US investment: "Our future at Lilly is bright, as we're on a path to launch 20 new products in a 10-year time frame," he said. "As we have for our entire 140-year history, we continue to see Indiana and the United States as attractive places to research and make the medicines that we sell around the world."
In November 2017, Lilly announced that as part of the $850-million investment in US operations, it will be spending $72 million to improve insulin manufacturing at one of its Indianapolis, Indiana manufacturing plants. Specifically, an existing insulin vial-filling line will be replaced with a modern, state-of-the-art system. The investment is intended to help the company meet growing demand for Humalog (insulin lispro injection), Lilly's top-selling drug in 2016 with global sales of $2.8 billion, Humulin (human insulin, and future insulin products currently in the pipeline.
"This new project is part of $850 million in anticipated U.S. capital investments which Lilly announced in March of this year. It reinforces our ongoing commitment to the U.S. market and in Indianapolis specifically," said Ricks. "Our company is poised for continued growth, and diabetes represents one of our key therapeutic areas. Investments such as this are vital to ensuring we continue meeting the needs of people who use our medicines."
Added Maria Crowe, President of Lilly Global Manufacturing Operations: "As technology and science continually advance, it is important that our manufacturing facilities are recapitalized and modernized regularly to ensure we can continue to provide a reliable supply of safe and high-quality medicines to people around the world.”