HQ Team
January 25, 2023: Eli Lilly will invest an additional $450 million to expand its manufacturing capacity at Research Triangle Park facility in North Carolina.
The 143-year-old Indianapolis-based company will ramp up the facility’s filling, device assembly and packaging capacity to support increased demand for Lilly’s incretin products that treat diabetes, according to a statement.
Incretins are metabolic hormones which are used in the stimulation to lower sugar levels in the blood. Incretins increase insulin secretion after food intake is released from the pancreatic beta cells.
The hormones, improve glucose profiles, lower free fatty acid levels, improve insulin resistance, lower body weight and HbA1c levels, and enhance β-cell performance hormones, improve
Since 2020, Lilly has committed roughly $4 billion to new manufacturing facilities in North Carolina, including $1.7 billion for developing and expanding its site at Research Triangle Park. The facilities are expected to be fully operational by 2027.
Initial production
The company anticipates initial production at Research Triangle Park to begin this year, with continuing preparations for inspections by the FDA.
Two years ago, Eli Lilly announced it would spend $474 million to build the facility and make Trulicity, its blockbuster diabetes medicine, which brought in sales of $6.5 billion in 2021 and $5.5 billion in the three quarters of 2022.
The move comes ahead of an expected surge in demand for a new diabetes type-2 treatment, Mounjaro. In December 2022, the FDA added Trulicity and Mounjaro to its list of drugs facing shortages.
Eli Lilly anticipates approval soon from the regulatory body for Mounjaro to treat obesity.
“As we move into 2023, Lilly is focused on finding innovative solutions to meet the growing demand for our medicines,” said Edgardo Hernandez, executive vice president and president of Lilly Manufacturing Operations.
Production pace
“Expanding our operations at Research Triangle Park will accelerate the rate at which we can produce medicines that patients rely on to address serious health challenges like diabetes.
“We’re on track to achieve the goal we shared in November 2022 of doubling incretin capacity by the end of this year, but this investment is key to ensuring even more patients will have access to medicines they need in the future.”
The incretin-based drugs market consists of a handful of players such as AstraZeneca, Boehringer Ingelheim Pharmaceuticals Inc., Eli Lilly, GlaxoSmithKline PLC., Merck Sharp & Dohme Corp., Novartis AG, Novo Nordisk, and Sanofi SA.
Incretin-based drugs market is anticipated to grow at a compounded annual growth rate of 3.4% until 2027, with a market value of $5.7 billion.
North America, Asia-Pacific and Latin American regions are expected to drive growth.
422 million diabetics
About 422 million people globally have diabetes, the majority living in low-and middle-income countries, and 1.5 million deaths are directly attributed to diabetes each year.
The number of cases and the prevalence of diabetes have been steadily increasing over the past few decades.
The Research Triangle Park facility expansion Eli Lilly will play a pivotal role in delivering a supply of existing Lilly medications while preparing to bring the next generation of medicines to patients worldwide, according to the statement.
Eli Lilly is working on potential new medicines to treat diabetes, obesity, Alzheimer’s disease, cancer and autoimmune conditions.
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