Work starts on Houston Plant

In Houston, Eli Lilly and Company started work on a $6.5 billion active pharmaceutical ingredient manufacturing facility in Generation Park in northeast Houston.

The plant, to be constructed on 236 acres near Timber Forest Drive north of the Target Distribution Center, will manufacture orforglipron, a synthetic oral GLP-1 medicine to treat obesity, and other small-molecule medicines. Known as Foundayo, the drug is being studied for other uses including type 2 diabetes and obstructive sleep apnea.

The plant will create more than 4,000 construction jobs while it is being built and upward of 600 jobs once up and running. Reported a year ago, the plant is one of 10 U.S. manufacturing sites reported by Lilly since 2020. The work start was held on Monday.

“We are thrilled to break ground on our latest ‘medicines made in America’ site in the great state of Texas. This $6.5B investment will help change the game for tens of millions of people suffering from overweight, obesity and its consequences like diabetes,” said Lilly Chair and CEO David A. Ricks. “We will make and ship Lilly’s latest products from Texas to people here at home and around the world.”

Houston has been gaining momentum as a life sciences hub, with two major deals landing in Generation Park recently. The 4,300-acre large-scale planned business park is a development of McCord along Beltway 8 in northeast Harris County.

Generation Park has attracted nearly $9 billion in pharma investment, including Bristol Myers Squibb’s upcoming $2.3 billion manufacturing facility reported in August.

The wins were a factor in Houston being named by Genetic Engineering & Biotechnology News as the top city among the nation’s top emerging biopharma clusters, as stated by the Greater Houston Partnership.

“Texas is the global hub for life sciences. This $6.5 billion Lilly investment in Houston is the largest active pharmaceutical ingredient project in Texas history and will create more than 600 high-wage jobs, right here in Texas,” said Texas Governor Greg Abbott. “Texas will produce these medicines at home so we can deliver life-changing treatments to millions of Americans.”

Lilly is providing $12.5 million to support training programs at San Jacinto College, which recently opened the Center for Biotechnology at its Generation Park Campus. The company is also providing a $2.5 million charitable donation to the San Jacinto College Foundation for scholarships.