Eli Lilly broke ground today in Houston, Texas on a $6.5 billion site that will manufacture Foundayo (orforglipron), Lilly's first synthetic oral GLP-1 medicine, along with other small-molecule medicines and advanced therapeutics.
Foundayo is a GLP-1 receptor agonist approved in the U.S. for weight management in adults with obesity, or adults with overweight and a weight-related condition. It is a small molecule rather than a peptide; small molecules are manufactured using more well-established technologies and therefore can be more readily scalable. Foundayo is currently under regulatory review in more than 40 countries, with a full global rollout targeted for 2027. Lilly is also studying Foundayo for other uses, including type 2 diabetes and obstructive sleep apnea, with data expected later this year.
Lilly is also providing $12.5 million to support a relationship with San Jacinto College to give Houstonians a pathway into advanced chemical synthesis manufacturing careers, with no prior experience required. This relationship will focus on developing training pathways and expanding the equipment and facility capacity needed to produce technicians, operators, maintenance professionals, and other manufacturing talent, while also leveraging Lilly experts to support curriculum development and instructor readiness and preparation. Separately, Lilly is providing a $2.5 million charitable donation to the San Jacinto College Foundation to support scholarships for eligible students.
Lilly is currently hiring in Houston and expects the new facility to create more than 600 jobs like engineers, scientists, operations personnel, and lab technicians — along with 4,000 construction jobs as the site is being built and brought online.
In addition to Foundayo, the Houston site will focus on advanced therapeutics including oligonucleotides, a class of medicines that can work at the genetic level to switch off the production of specific proteins to treat disease closer to its source.
The Houston facility is one of 10 U.S. sites Lilly has announced since 2020:
- Five will produce API
- Richmond, Virginia; Huntsville, Alabama; Houston, Texas; and two sites in Lebanon, Indiana – Lebanon API and Lilly Medicine Foundry, which will also focus on new production methods and making medicines for clinical trials
- Four will make injectable medicines and manufacture devices
- Research Triangle Park and Concord, North Carolina; Kenosha, Wisconsin; and Lehigh Valley, Pennsylvania
- One will make genetic medicines, Lebanon Advanced Therapies
