Pharmaceutical giant Eli Lilly and Co. plans to build a $6.5 billion manufacturing plant at Houston\u2019s Generation Park. More than 300 locations in the U.S. competed for the factory.<\/p>\n
The Houston site will be the first major pharmaceutical manufacturing plant in Texas, according to the Greater Houston Partnership<\/a>.<\/p>\n Lilly said it plans to hire 615 full-time workers for the 236-acre plant<\/a>, including engineers, scientists and lab technicians. The company will collaborate with local colleges and universities to help build its talent pipeline.<\/p>\n The plant will also generate an estimated 4,000 construction jobs.<\/p>\n Lilly said every dollar it spends in the Houston area will contribute an additional $4 to the local economy.<\/p>\n \u201cThis is a transformative moment for the Houston region and our life sciences industry,\u201d Steve Kean, president and CEO of the Greater Houston Partnership, said in a release. \u201cThe Lilly project represents one of the largest for-profit life sciences investments in Texas history and is a powerful endorsement of Houston\u2019s growing position as a global hub for innovation, advanced manufacturing, and biomedical excellence.\u201d<\/p>\n The factory, expected to go online by 2030, will make small-molecule medicines for fields such as oncology, immunology and neuroscience. Perhaps most notably, the site will manufacture orforglipron, Lilly’s first oral small-molecule GLP-1 medicine for treatment of obesity and type 2 diabetes. The drug is currently undergoing clinical trials.<\/p>\n \u201cOur new Houston site will enhance Lilly\u2019s ability to manufacture orforglipron at scale and, if approved, help fulfill the medicine\u2019s 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,\u201d David Ricks, chairman and CEO of Lilly, said in a release.<\/p>\n