US pharmaceutical giant Eli Lilly said on Monday it will invest more than $1 billion in India over the next few years to lift manufacturing capacity and supply through local drugmakers.
The group, ranked 11th on the list of largest biomedical companies by revenue, said it wants to tap into India’s skilled workforce to bolster its global manufacturing expansion. But a key factor in the timing of this move appears to be a recent announcement by US President Donald Trump about tariffs on pharmaceuticals.
The collaborations aim to increase the availability of Lilly’s key drugs, including those for obesity, diabetes, Alzheimer’s, cancer and auto-immune conditions, the company said.
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“We are making significant investments to increase manufacturing and medicine supply capacity around the world,” Patrik Jonsson, president of Lilly International, said, adding, India is a hub for capability building within its global network.
The company, which has offices in 18 countries and launched its blockbuster weight-loss drug Mounjaro in India this year, currently does not operate its own manufacturing facility in the country.
India hosts several firms that develop and manufacture complex drugs, vials, injectables for larger pharmaceuticals on a contract basis.
“Lilly is actively engaging with contract manufacturers in India,” the company told Reuters, but did not divulge any further details.
$27bn expansion plan
As said above, Lilly’s investment plans in India come at a time when global drugmakers are rushing to bolster US manufacturing capacity after the Trump administration imposed a 100% tariff on imported branded and patented drugs from October 1.
Last month, Lilly announced a $5 billion investment in a new facility in Virginia, part of a $27 billion expansion plan to build four new US plants over the next five years.
Meanwhile, the India launch of Mounjaro, alongside Danish drugmaker Novo Nordisk’s Wegovy, has increased patient awareness of obesity treatments in a country projected to have the world’s second-largest obese population by 2050.
Sales of both drugs doubled within months of their launch.
Lilly is also preparing for increased competition from India’s generic drugmakers, who are racing to launch cheaper versions of Wegovy once its main chemical ingredient, semaglutide, goes off patent next year.
Separately, Lilly is setting up a manufacturing and quality facility in the southern Indian city of Hyderabad in Telegana state to expand its presence beyond the city’s global capability centre.
The new hub will oversee the firm’s contract manufacturing network across India and provide technical capabilities.
Recruitment for the new site “will begin immediately”, Lilly said, with plans to hire engineers, chemists, analytical scientists, quality control and assurance experts and managers.
- Reuters with additional editing by Jim Pollard
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