Indianapolis-based pharmaceutical giant Eli Lilly and Co. announced plans Wednesday to add four new manufacturing sites in a roughly $27 billion investment expected to create 3,000 jobs and nearly 10,000 construction positions during the buildout.
Lilly said it expects to reveal the specific locations for the sites later this year, adding that it is negotiating with several states. The company would not confirm whether Indiana is among them.
The drugmaker said the move will more than double its U.S. manufacturing investment since 2020, bringing the total to more than $50 billion. Lilly said the new jobs will be filled by highly skilled workers including engineers, scientists, operations personnel and lab technicians.
Lilly made an official announcement about the investment during a Wednesday press conference in Washington, D.C., as international trade and U.S. manufacturing practices have gained attention amid President Donald Trump’s plan to use more tariffs.
Lilly CEO David Ricks said the company’s optimism in its pipeline across therapeutic areas—cardiometabolic health, oncology, immunology and neuroscience—is driving what it called its unprecedented commitment to expanding U.S. manufacturing.
“Our confidence positions us to help reinvigorate domestic manufacturing, which will benefit hard-working American families and increase exports of medicines made in the U.S.A.,” Ricks said in written remarks.
He added: “We believe that our investments in America and upskilling our nation’s workforce will spark a significant ripple effect. For every job we create, many more will be generated, positively impacting the communities that host our innovative new sites.”
While already in talks over several possible sites, Lilly said it welcomed additional interest by March 12 for locations interested in being home to one of the four facilities.
Three of Lilly’s future U.S. sites will manufacture active pharmaceutical ingredients, or APIs, “reshoring critical capabilities of small molecules chemical synthesis further strengthening Lilly’s supply chain,” the company said.
APIs are used to make two of Lilly’s blockbuster medications—diabetes treatment Mounjaro and weight-loss treatment Zepbound—which are in heavy demand amid growing usage. The two drugs accounted for more than one-third of the drugmaker’s record $45 billion in revenue in 2024.
The company said the fourth site would be part of Lilly’s parenteral manufacturing network for future injectable therapies.
Lilly said it anticipates the new facilities will be making medicine within five years.
The drugmaker previously had announced $23 billion in U.S. commitments since 2020. Those include, in Indiana, new sites at the LEAP Research and Innovation District and the development of the Lilly Medicine Foundry, both in Lebanon, as well as expansions and updates to several Indianapolis manufacturing facilities.
The company also has announced new sites at Research Triangle Park in Concord, North Carolina, and the acquisition and expansion of its manufacturing site in Kenosha County, Wisconsin.
“To deliver on our big bets on next-generation modalities like small molecules, biologics and nucleic acid therapies, Lilly is investing in the state-of-the-art manufacturing infrastructure needed to deliver tomorrow’s safe and reliable medicine,” Lilly Executive Vice President of Lilly Manufacturing Operations Edgardo Hernandez said in written remarks.
The Trump administration has emphasized—while using tariffs as a potential bargaining chip—the importance of U.S. manufacturers, including the pharmaceutical industry, investing at home or reshoring operations.
Last week, Bloomberg News reported that Trump met at the White House with top U.S. drugmakers including Lilly’s Ricks, telling them to bring back manufacturing or face tariffs.
In a press release, Ricks called the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, or TCJA, passed during Trump’s first term in 2017, foundational to Lilly’s domestic manufacturing investment, adding “it is essential that these policies are extended this year.”
Key provisions of the TCJA are set to expire at the end of the year.
In its release, Lilly repeatedly mentioned the societal importance of its American manufacturing investments.
“We are not just building facilities,” Hernandez said. “We are creating a future where American innovation leads the world in pharmaceutical manufacturing, requiring a highly skilled workforce prepared to shape the future of health care. This is a significant step for our company, our communities and the patients we serve.”
Lilly listed the anticipated benefits of its new sites as increased local spending, tax revenue, economic diversification, improved infrastructure, population growth, and opportunities for workforce training and development.
Carol Rogers, director of the Indiana Business Research Center at the IU Kelley School of Business in Indianapolis, said the specter of tariffs and retaliatory tariffs creates uncertainty but also motivation for reshoring.
“Everybody’s trying to figure out exactly how the tariffs are going to be applied, when they’re going to be applied, and who they’re going to be applied to, which countries and which products,” Rogers said. “Some companies have been for several years, been starting to reshore it. That’s not necessarily a new thing, but I think this will accelerate it.”
She said added manufacturing jobs benefit local economies because they generally pay well and are stable.
“There are good career ladders in manufacturing for many people, especially as they upskill and reskill,” Rogers said.
Amid the tariff talk, Apple announced this week that it would spend more than $500 billion in the United States over the next four years—its largest-ever spending commitment—including plans to expand teams or facilities in nine states.