Eli Lilly and Company has outlined plans to develop a $3bn manufacturing facility in Katwijk, situated in the Leiden Bio Science Park, the Netherlands, bolstering its worldwide supply chain operations.

The initiative will increase the company’s production capacity for oral medications, and the investment is subject to regulatory and local approvals.

Among the medicines to be produced at the site will be orforglipron, the company’s inaugural oral small-molecule glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1) receptor agonist.

Lilly anticipates submitting regulatory filings for the therapy as a treatment for obesity by the end of 2025.

The forthcoming facility will utilise modern technology to support the production of the company’s range of oral solid medicine portfolio in therapeutic areas such as cardiometabolic diseases, oncology, neuroscience and immunology.

Its features will include automated material handling from arrival to dispatch, paperless systems, spray-dried dispersion technology and process analytical technology, to aid the absorption of oral treatments.

The project will create 500 jobs in southern Holland for engineers, scientists, laboratory staff and operational workers.

During the construction phase, anticipated to start in 2026, an estimated 1,500 positions will also be created.

Lilly’s European manufacturing footprint already includes facilities in Ireland, France, Spain and Italy.

Since 2020, the company has announced plans for additional factories in Ireland, Germany and currently in the Netherlands to address rising demand for its products.

Lilly has also disclosed investments in facilities beyond Europe, including an expansion in Puerto Rico. New developments are planned for Virginia and Texas in the US.

Announcements concerning two further US manufacturing sites are anticipated in late 2025/early 2026.

Lilly manufacturing operations president and executive vice-president Edgardo Hernandez stated: "At Lilly, we are investing in next-generation manufacturing facilities around the world to ensure our medicines are made and distributed closer to the communities and patients we serve.

“Expanding our capabilities in Europe strengthens our global supply chain and reflects our commitment to getting innovative treatments to patients who need them.”