Eli Lilly kicked off construction of a new plant to boost the production of its wildly popular weight-loss drugs, which have yet to gain a foothold in Europe.

The factory will open in 2027 and ship worldwide, the US drugmaker said at the groundbreaking ceremony near Frankfurt on Monday (Apr 8). 

Lilly is starting work on the plant as its weight-loss blockbuster Zepbound faces shortages in the US and the company races against Novo Nordisk to supply the world with a new generation of injected obesity medicines. 

Obesity shots have skyrocketed in popularity in recent years, prompting drugmakers to ramp up production. Lilly executives have said they don’t anticipate being able to meet demand in the US this year. 

The Lilly drug is marketed in Europe under its diabetes brand name, Mounjaro. Much of the demand for these medicines, called GLP-1s, is flowing to the US market at the moment. 

The US drugmaker plans to invest US$2.5 billion in the plant and create 1,000 jobs in production, research and development. Construction is set to begin over the summer. The site will produce injectable medicines as well as injector pens. BLOOMBERG

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