Eli Lilly and Company held a groundbreaking ceremony Sept. 21 for the company's new $6.5 billion, 236-acre manufacturing site in Generation Park. Company officials also announced a multimillion-dollar contribution to a local college.
The big picture
Originally announced in September 2025, Lilly's new Generation Park facility is part of the company's $50 billion investment to bolster domestic medicine production, which includes the construction of four new manufacturing sites across the U.S. The Houston facility will manufacture Foundayo (orforglipron), as well as other small-molecule medicines and advanced therapeutics.
"Texas is a global hub for life sciences. This $6.5 billion Eli 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," Gov. Greg Abbott said in a statement. "Texas will produce these medicines at home so we can deliver life-changing treatments to millions of Americans."
Per a Sept. 21 news release, Foundayo is Lilly's first synthetic oral GLP-1 medicine and was approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration in April for weight management in adults with obesity, or overweight adults with a weight-related condition. The medication is also being studied for other uses, including type 2 diabetes and obstructive sleep apnea, with data expected later this year.
"We are thrilled to break ground on our latest 'medicines made in America' site in the great state of Texas," Lilly Chair and CEO David A. Ricks said in a statement. "This $6.5 billion investment will help change the game for tens of millions of people suffering from ... 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."
