Lilly Expands Bio Capabilities

Eli Lilly and Co. completed the first phase of a $560 million expansion to its biotech complex in Indianapolis. The investment is part of a $1 billion effort to strengthen and build its biotech drug R&D capabilities. Lilly’s plans for the complex, announced in 2002, have since doubled in size to meet its pipeline of biopharma drugs. Approximately 30% of Lilly’s total drug portfolio are biopharma medicines in several therapeutic categories.

With the state-of-the-art bioproducts pilot manufacturing plant, the company aims to bring advanced biotech medicines to patients through more efficient, productive and dependable manufacturing processes. The company has also opened a research support facility that 700 scientists, engineers and support staff will relocate to.

“These investments reinforce Lilly’s position as a biotech leader,” said John Lechleiter, Ph.D., Lilly’s president and chief operating officer. “In tandem with our rich history of biotechnology, they give us a competitive advantage to discover, develop, and launch important new biotech therapies.”

The construction of the three buildings, along with Lilly’s acquisition of Applied Molecular Evolution in 2004, accounts for a total biotech capital investment of approximately $1 billion. “These investments, part of the company’s planned growth strategy in the area of biotechnology, prove that Lilly is confident in its future in biotech,” said Dr. Lechleiter.