Eli Lilly and Company announced Friday that it has selected the Lehigh Valley of Pennsylvania as the site of its new injectable medicine and device manufacturing facility.
The company said it will invest $3.5 billion to develop weight-loss therapies including retatrutide, a first-in-class investigational GIP, GLP-1 and glucagon triple hormone receptor agonist. The facility, located in Fogelsville, PA, will be the company’s fourth announced site since February 2025, and is part of its commitment to bolster domestic medicine production.
“Our mission starts with patients and delivering the medicines they need. To meet increasing demand, we’re expanding our U.S. manufacturing network, with Lehigh Valley adding capacity for next-generation weight-loss medicines. We’re creating high-quality jobs and collaborating across the region—with suppliers, educators, and workforce-development partners—to make critical medicines in the U.S.,” David A. Ricks, Lilly chair and CEO, said. “That’s our commitment—to patients, to our new Pennsylvania home and to our country.”
The company said it plans to create more than 2,800 manufacturing and construction jobs at the site. Of those 850 will be high-value jobs, including engineers, scientists, operations personnel and lab technicians. Construction is expected to start this year, and the facility is anticipated to begin operations in 2031.
“When we announced our Economic Development Strategy here in the Lehigh Valley two years ago, we set out to win historic, life-changing deals like the one we’re announcing with Lilly today,” Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro said. “Before I took office, Pennsylvania wasn’t even in the conversation for major investments like this, but thanks to our work to cut red tape, invest in site development, and expand our workforce, our Commonwealth is now competing—and winning—on a national scale.
The company estimated that for every dollar it invests, up to four dollars in additional local economic activity is generated. Additionally, for each manufacturing job created, several more will be generated in sectors like supply chain, logistics and retail.