Eli Lilly doubles investment to $2 billion in Concord pharma facility ahead of opening
Eli Lilly has doubled its investment in its new Concord manufacturing facility from $1 billion to $2 billion since construction began in 2022, the company confirmed.
The pharmaceutical giant hosted a ribbon-cutting ceremony and tour Friday morning of its drug manufacturing facility at the old Phillip Morris cigarette manufacturing site on U.S. 29. It’s a couple miles down the road from Charlotte Motor Speedway.
The increased investment went toward keeping pace with heightened demand for its medicines, spokeswoman Carla Cox said in an email.
The plant will produce diabetes and obesity medicine, Cox said. Sales of these drugs accounted for 63% of the company’s $8.8 billion total first-quarter revenue and 72% of its $5.7 billion domestic first-quarter revenue.
The Concord plant will create 600 jobs, begin production by the end of this year and start shipping medicine in 2025, according to Cox. The total number of jobs has not changed.
Gov. Roy Cooper was among the officials at Friday’s event. The Concord plant is its second in North Carolina; its other facility is in Research Triangle Park.
“Already located in RTP, they (Eli Lilly) know what North Carolina is all about,” Cooper said. “We’re concentrating (economic development) on life sciences and pharmaceutical manufacturing, and we’re seeing the results of that today.”
The overall footprint of the plant will remain the same, according to Cox said, but it will be one of Eli Lilly’s most advanced manufacturing facilities to date, equipped with high-speed manufacturing lines and automation throughout the supply chain. The plant will be a key pipeline for Eli Lilly’s medicine, Cox said.
In 2022, Eli Lilly initially said it would make medicine for Alzheimer’s treatment at the Concord site too, but Cox could only confirm that the plant will produce diabetes and obesity drugs.
The Eli Lilly plant is the most recent in a series of business moves or expansion in Concord, including the Kimble Food by Design fulfillment center and NASCAR production facility in 2023.
At the Eli Lilly plant
The head of Eli Lilly’s Concord site led a tour of its new facility, including the lobby, inspection unit, production unit and packaging line, after a ceremony with speeches from Cooper and Eli Lilly Executive Vice President, Edgardo Hernandez.
The rooms included proprietary technology and high-tech devices, such as automated vehicles similar to forklifts. They are responsible for transporting materials around the site.
Yellow robotic arms are used to store and retrieve production materials. They have a hinge about halfway up that allows them to bend. And 360-degree mobility enables them to pivot in any direction.
Although the facility’s interior was still a work in progress, with certain areas closed for construction, its exterior appeared polished and finalized.
Eli Lilly is on pace to complete construction of the facility more than twice as fast as the industry average of five years, Hernandez said during the ceremony.
Over 60% of the workers already hired at the Concord site are local, meaning they did not have to relocate, and 70% are from North Carolina, according to Rosa Manso Herranz, Eli Lilly’s Concord site head.
About Eli Lilly
Eli Lilly is known for producing obesity and diabetes drugs, including Jardiance, Mounjaro and Trulicity as well as its experimental Alzheimer’s drug, donanemab, which earned backing from the Food and Drug Administration Monday.
Col. Eli Lilly founded the Indianapolis-based pharmaceutical company in 1876. Eli Lilly employs 20,397 people in the US and 44,074 worldwide. Eli Lilly generated $34.1 billion in revenue in 2023.
This story was originally published June 14, 2024 at 5:56 AM.