Eli Lilly and Company broke ground Sept. 21 on a $6.5 billion manufacturing site in Houston's Generation Park.
Foundayo received FDA approval in April for weight management in adults with obesity, or adults with overweight and a weight-related condition. According to the company, it's under regulatory review in more than 40 countries, with a full global rollout targeted for 2027.
The manufacturing site is part of Lilly's $50 billion push to expand domestic medicine production, which includes four new U.S. manufacturing sites.
Lilly is also partnering with San Jacinto College.
The company is providing $12.5 million to offer Houstonians a pathway into advanced chemical synthesis manufacturing careers, with no prior experience required. Separately, Lilly is providing a $2.5 million donation to the San Jacinto College Foundation to support scholarships for eligible students.
Lilly is hiring in Houston. The new facility is expected to create more than 600 high-wage positions, including engineers, scientists, operations personnel, and lab technicians. There are 4,000 construction jobs expected as the site is being built.
“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 Gov. Greg Abbott says. “Texas will produce these medicines at home so we can deliver life-changing treatments to millions of Americans.”
What an oral GLP-1 means for packaging.
Much of the packaging conversation around GLP-1s has focused on injectables and the cold chain. Many companies, including Nordic Cold Chain Solutions and Veritiv, are launching specialized GLP-1 shippers. Oral options like Foundayo raise a new question for the category: how much of that cold chain infrastructure a small-molecule pill will actually need.
