INDIANAPOLIS -- Indiana Gov. Eric Holcomb, along with officials with Eli Lilly and Company, announced Friday that Lilly will more than double its investment at the LEAP Research and Innovation District in Lebanon.
According to a news release from Holcomb's office, the company will expand its investment into the facility by $5.3 billion, bringing its total LEAP investment to $9 billion. Officials said this investment will enhance the company's capacity to manufacture active pharmaceutical ingredients for its latest type 2 diabetes and obesity medicines.
“Lilly continues to play a transformational role in shaping Indiana’s opportunity economy, and I couldn’t be more proud about their pole position leadership in developing the LEAP Research and Innovation District in Lebanon, Indiana. Lilly has long been driving global innovation and economic growth that will be felt for decades here at home,” Holcomb said.
“As an international company, headquartered in Indiana, Lilly had a world of options to consider before making this investment, and choosing Indiana once again reinforces the incredible environment we’ve cultivated and the talented workforce we have to carry Lilly’s success forward. I can’t wait to see the incredible benefits this investment leads to for patients around the world, knowing they were made in Indiana.”
Along with the investment, Eli Lilly will also create 200 new, full-time jobs for engineers, scientists, operating personnel and lab technicians. In total, the company has planned that 900 people will be employed at the LEAP facility.
“Today’s announcement tops the largest manufacturing investment in our company’s history and, we believe, represents the single largest investment in synthetic medicine API manufacturing in U.S. history,” David Ricks, the chief executive officer of Eli Lilly and Company, said in the release.
“This multi-site campus will make our latest medicines, support pipeline growth and leverage the latest technology and automation for maximum efficiency, safety and quality control. Importantly, we are investing in our home state of Indiana, creating high-wage, advanced manufacturing, engineering and science jobs for hundreds of current and future Hoosier families.”
The Indiana Economic Development Corporation also committed an additional investment in tax credits and training grants for the facility. Officials broke ground on the site in Lebanon in April 2021 and expects to be fully functional in late 2026.
In a statement from Xavier Becerra, the secretary of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services surrounding this announcement, he said that President Joe Biden's commitment to "creating good-paying, manufacturing and union jobs" in the United States has encouraged this investment.
"This will create 900 permanent jobs, 5,000 construction jobs, and bring the company’s total investment in the site to $9 billion," Becerra said in the statement. "Today’s announcement increases announced private-sector investments in Indiana under President Biden to $30 billion. This investment is another example of how President Biden’s Investing in America agenda is creating good jobs that will have a meaningful, lasting impact on communities and families across the country.”