Lilly to make $1.8B investment in two Ireland manufacturing facilities
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Lilly’s planned Limerick facilities (rendering provided by Eli Lilly and Co.)
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Lilly’s Kinsale campus (photo courtesy Eli Lilly and Co.)
Indianapolis-based Eli Lilly and Co. on Thursday announced plans to spend $1.8 billion on two of its manufacturing sites in Ireland to boost production of medicines for Alzheimer’s disease, diabetes and obesity.
The investment includes a $1 billion expansion of its Limerick biopharmaceutical facility, which is currently under construction. The additional funding will bring Lilly’s total investment in the facility to $2 billion—double the amount the company originally announced in 2023.
The additional Limerick investment will add another 150 jobs at the location, raising planned total employment at the site to 450, Lilly said.
The Limerick site will make biologic active ingredients for various medicines, including treatments for Alzheimer’s disease. Lilly said it expects to begin production there in 2026.
Lilly said the Limerick investment project is subject to approval, and the company will submit a planning application to the Limerick City and County Council in due course.
The pharmaceutical company also announced the completion of an $800 million expansion at its existing Kinsale manufacturing site. The expansion will help Lilly meet demand for the company’s latest diabetes and obesity treatments.
“These investments will boost the production of some of our medicines, helping millions of people with diabetes, obesity and Alzheimer’s disease live the healthiest lives possible,” Lilly Manufacturing Operations President Edgardo Hernandez said in a written statement. “We won’t stop there—these state-of-the-art facilities will also be equipped to support our promising pipeline molecules of the future.”
The announcement is part of what Lilly described as “the most ambitious manufacturing agenda in the company’s history.” Since 2020, the company has committed more than $20 billion to build, expand and acquire manufacturing facilities in the U.S. and Europe.
Lilly has operated in Ireland for more than 45 years and currently has more than 3,000 employees in that country. Lilly said Ireland is an attractive site for pharmaceutical manufacturing due to its “skilled workforce, regulatory environment and pro-innovation government policies.”
In addition to the Limerick and Kinsale sites, the company also operates an office in Cork that serves as a shared-services location for finance, human resources and other functions that support Lilly’s European operations.