Eli Lilly and Co. broke ground on Sept. 21, 2026, in Houston on one of 10 U.S. manufacturing sites — and fifth location to produce domestic active pharmaceutical ingredients (API) — announced since 2020.
A contractor wasn't announced.
As part of the company's $50 billion push to reshore medicine production to meet growing demand at home and export American-made medicines to people around the world, the $6.5 billion Houston site 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.
“We are thrilled to break ground on our latest 'medicines made in America' site in the great state of Texas,” said David A. Ricks, Lilly chair and CEO. “This $6.5B investment will help change the game for tens of millions of people suffering from overweight, obesity and its consequences like diabetes. We will make and ship Lilly's latest products from Texas to people here at home and around the world.”
Lilly also is providing $12.5 million to support a relationship with San Jacinto College to give Houstonians a pathway into advanced chemical synthesis manufacturing careers.
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 hiring in Houston and expects the new facility to create more than 600 high-wage 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. This will include 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.
“Texas is the global hub for life sciences,” Texas Gov. Greg Abbott said. “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. Texas will produce these medicines at home so we can deliver life-changing treatments to millions of Americans.”
