Eli Lilly to build $3.5 billion Pennsylvania plant in US manufacturing push

WASHINGTON, Jan 30 (Reuters) - Eli Lilly announced on Friday that it will build a pharmaceutical manufacturing facility in Pennsylvania, ​its fourth new site in an effort to expand ‌U.S. production and bolster medical supply chains.

The $3.5 billion plant will make Lilly's injectable ‌weight-loss medications, including retatrutide, the company said in a statement. That next-generation obesity drug has outperformed Lilly's blockbuster drug Zepbound.

Drugmakers are rushing to expand U.S. production as President Donald Trump has threatened to ⁠impose import tariffs on ‌pharmaceutical products.

Companies including Lilly, Pfizer, and Merck have pledged billions in domestic investment to avoid penalties. Lilly ‍said last year that it would invest over $27 billion in four new U.S. manufacturing sites, and has said it will expand production at ​others.

Lilly, the world's most valuable drugmaker by market value, has ‌been racing against Danish rival Novo Nordisk to meet surging demand for GLP-1 weight-loss drugs. The company plans to launch its much-anticipated weight-loss pill in several countries at a $150-a-month cash price as it works towards U.S. approval in the coming months.

Construction at the ⁠Lehigh Valley site is expected to ​begin in 2026 and the plant will ​be operational in 2031, the company said.

The site was selected from more than 300 applications and was ‍chosen in part ⁠for its proximity to universities and its existing infrastructure, the company said.

The investment is the largest by a life sciences ⁠company in Pennsylvania history and will create at least 850 new jobs, said ‌Governor Josh Shapiro in a statement.

(Reporting by Leah Douglas ‌in Washington;Editing by Nick Zieminski)