Eli Lilly has revealed it is to build an active pharmaceutical product (API) facility in Texas, US, a week after revealing Virginia as the first site in its $27bn US manufacturing drive.
The $6.5bn manufacturing facility will produce Eli Lilly’s array of small molecule therapeutics – chief among which will be orforglipron, the drugmaker’s oral glucagon-like peptide-1 receptor agonist (GLP-1RA) hopeful in obesity treatment.
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Lilly’s CEO David Ricks said: “Our new Houston site will enhance Lilly’s ability to manufacture orforglipron at scale and, if approved, help fulfil the medicine’s potential as a metabolic health treatment for tens of millions of people worldwide who prefer the ease of a pill that can be taken without food and water restrictions.”
Eli Lilly plans to file for US approval of orforglipron in obesity before the end of 2025, with a type 2 diabetes filing expected in 2026. Analysis by GlobalData forecasts global sales of over $14bn by 2031 for the pill.
GlobalData is the parent company of Pharmaceutical Technology.
“This significant US investment and onshoring of our API production capabilities will ensure faster, more secure access to orforglipron and to other life-changing medicines of the future,” Ricks added.
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By GlobalDataOther small molecule drugs across cardiometabolic health, oncology, immunology and neuroscience will be manufactured at the site in the Lake Houston area, north-east of Austin, Texas’ capital city. The facility, which will create 615 engineering, scientific, and operational jobs, will begin producing medicines within five years.
The facility will incorporate a swathe of digital technology, including machine learning (ML), AI, and data analytics. Digital automation will also be placed throughout the site to streamline operations and create a robust supply chain. Lilly plans to collaborate with local universities and invest in educational initiatives across Texas as part of the technology drive.
Last week, Lilly revealed plans to build a $5bn manufacturing facility in Goochland County, Virginia.
This site will be an integrated active pharmaceutical ingredient (API) and drug product facility for the company’s bioconjugate platform and monoclonal antibody (mAb) portfolio. The facility aims to boost domestic production of the promising cancer treatment modality, antibody-drug conjugates (ADCs).
Both the Texas and Virginia sites are part of the company’s wider strategy to bolster domestic production of pharmaceutical products amid pressure on the industry to onshore production from President Donald Trump’s administration. In February 2025, Lilly outlaid $27bn for the creation of four new drug manufacturing facilities, bringing the total US capital expansion commitments to more than $50bn since 2020. The company added that it plans to announce the remaining two locations later this year.
Trump previously mentioned that Eli Lilly would not be tariffed earlier this year due to the company’s $50bn investment in manufacturing plants in the US.
Lilly is not the only company to target Virginia as a location for US manufacturing expansion. UK big pharma company AstraZeneca plans to build a “multibillion dollar” drug substance facility in the state, part of a wider $50bn commitment to bolster its footprint in the US.
The wider pharma industry has been heeding Trump’s calls to bolster production of medicines in the country. Earlier this year, Johnson & Johnson outlaid $55bn over the next four years while UK pharma GSK and Swiss drugmaker Roche have invested $30bn and $50bn, respectively.
Despite the onshoring trend, analysis by GlobalData has identified a wave of scepticism regarding its effectiveness. Indeed, a new scheme established by the FDA to streamline the introduction of new drug manufacturing sites in the US was met with mixed reception when announced in August 2025.
