LEBANON, Ind. — Eli Lilly on Wednesday announced a $4.5 billion investment to create a "medicine foundry" in Lebanon.
The foundry will be located in Lebanon's LEAP innovation district. The company says it will bring hundreds of jobs and will shorten drug research and manufacturing time when it opens in 2027.
Lilly's Medicine Foundry is the fourth massive investment in Lebanon's LEAP innovation district in the past 2 1/2 years.
The multi-billion dollar project is meant to have a big impact on how the company develops drugs and therapies, starts clinical trials and gets meds to patients at the pharmacy.
"We are leading and leaping our way into the future," Indiana Gov. Eric Holcomb said.
"The Medicine Foundry will combine research, manufacturing and the most advanced technology available in a single location right here in Indiana. We're not aware of another investment like this in the world," Lilly chair and CEO David Ricks said.
The complex will be built on the west side of Interstate 65: 1.2 million square feet, seven buildings, 400 new high-skill jobs including scientists, researchers, engineers and lab techs.
Lilly said the facility will expand the company's investment in the LEAP Research and Innovation District to over $13 billion. The pharmaceutical giant previously said it was investing $9 billion in a manufacturing site there to boost production for Zepbound and Mounjaro, which are used to treat diseases such as obesity and type 2 diabetes.
Lebanon Mayor Matt Gentry said it's a boon for Boone County.
"When you talk about companies you want in the community, Lilly's on the top of that list," Gentry said.
Lilly says speed of innovation and supply will be the game-changers here.
Ricks said a decade ago, it took an average of 13 years to get a medicine from testing to approved and available.
He said it takes half that time now.
But with the new medicine foundry, Lilly expects to speed up drug development even more, shaving off another one or two years.
Lilly officials say the foundry will also be able to ramp up supply, when a discovery's successful.
"It's researching new ways to produce medicines, as well as manufacturing these medicines for clinical trials across the world," Lilly Chief Scientific Officer Dan Skovronsky said. "It will enable us to address drug shortages and enhance overall drug manufacturing process by discovering new ways to improve the efficiency, the quality, the environmental impact of medicine itself."
"This site will enable those types of inventions that will allow us to make two, three times as much medicine from the same processes from chemical innovation," Ricks said.
But this project does come with questions.
As 13News has reported, some people are worried about the water supply, not just for the medicine foundry, but the LEAP district in general.
Lebanon put some projects on hold because there wasn't enough water for them. Citizens Energy's proposed a plan to pump in 25 million gallons a day.
Local and state leaders say concerns are unfounded.
"Not one drip will be drained that's not accounted for," Holcomb said.
"Lilly would not be willing to commit and make an announcement unless they were comfortable we'd be able to supply them based on our plans," Gentry said.
The State of Indiana is offering Eli Lilly economic incentives tied to its investment and employment goals, the company said, and will also provide infrastructure improvements for roads, water, electricity and utilities tied to the facility.
It's a project officials and the company call transformational in the science of fighting and treating disease.
Construction is set to begin in 2025.