Eli Lilly Eyes Houston for $6B Biomanufacturing Plant
The facility would be one of the pharmaceutical company's four recent expansion sites.
As part of its $27 billion plan to more than double its U.S. manufacturing investment since 2020, Eli Lilly and Co. is considering building a $5.9 billion biomanufacturing plant in Houston on a 236-acre site within McCord Development’s Generation Park.
It would be one of four new manufacturing sites for the Indianapolis-based pharmaceutical giant, bringing the company’s total U.S. expansion commitments to more than $50 million. Lilly announced in February three of the future sites would focus on manufacturing active pharmaceutical ingredients to help restore and strengthen Lilly’s supply chain. The fourth location will extend the company’s global manufacturing network for injectable therapies.
Lilly has filed an application with Texas seeking tax incentives through the state’s new Jobs, Energy, Technology and Innovation program. JETI replaced a previous tax incentive program offered by the state. The JETI documents estimate the plant would have a direct economic impact worth more than $2.5 billion to the region over 10 years. If it moves forward, the project would create more than 2,000 construction jobs and 604 permanent jobs. Positions could include operations technicians, production specialists, engineers, quality control, administrative and management roles.
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Construction would start in 2026 and be completed by 2030, with operations beginning in 2031.
The tax abatement period being sought by Lilly would run from 2031 through 2040. Under the JETI program, school districts limit the taxable value of the site to 50 percent of appraised value or market value for a 10-year period. If approved by the state, it could potentially save the company millions of dollars.
Eli Lilly’s recent expansion in the U.S.
Lilly noted in the state filing it would construct multiple buildings, including administrative offices, production facilities, wastewater treatment facilities and a tank farm. It would require McCord to construct critical infrastructure at the site as a requirement of the land sale.
Lilly, which encouraged states to pitch locations for the four plants by mid-March, is expected to announce the new sites by the end of the year.
In the meantime, the company has been moving ahead with other investments. Lilly is investing $3 billion to expand manufacturing operations at a facility it purchased in Pleasant Prairie, Wis., in 2024. The company expects production to start by the end of this year at the plant, which will produce injectable medicines and assemble and package various products.
In October, Lilly broke ground on the $4.5 billion development of the Lilly Medicine Foundry at the LEAP Research and Innovation District in Lebanon, Ind. Slated to open in 2027, it will be the first facility to combine research and manufacturing in one location. With the addition of the Medicine Foundry, the firm’s investment at the site will exceed $13 billion.
The ongoing growth of Generation Park
Houston-based McCord is the developer of Generation Park, a 4,300-acre master-planned commercial district located on the Beltway 8 near Lake Houston in northeast Harris County. The commercial and multifamily development already has more than 2 million square feet of projects including corporate headquarters, retail space, luxury apartments and a hotel. The development aims to be a hub for innovation, particularly for life science and logistics companies.
In August 2023, McCord unveiled plans for BioHub Two, a speculative 45-acre biomanufacturing campus at Generation Park. The firm had already completed $30 million in infrastructure installations and land conversions for the campus’ construction. BioHub Two, which is under development, will feature 500,000 square feet of lab, office and cGMP manufacturing space.
BioHub Two is located near the San Jacinto College Biotechnology Center, a 10-building manufacturing and research training campus operated by the college in partnership with Ireland’s National Institute of Biotechnology Research and Training. Brought to Generation Park by McCord to help train a biotech workforce needed for Houston to attract more life science companies, the center is set to open this summer.
Big Pharma boom
Lilly isn’t the only Big Pharma company planning major U.S. investments. Fierce Pharma reports that billions of dollars in potential investments have been announced in recent months by companies like Johnson & Johnson, Bristol Myers Squibb, Roche and Novartis as they face possible import tariffs under the Trump administration.
In late April, Merck broke ground on a $1 billion, 470,000-square-foot biologics center with laboratory, manufacturing and warehouse capabilities in Wilmington, Del. The laboratory component is expected to be fully operational by 2028, with production of investigational compounds anticipated to start by 2030. It is expected to be the future U.S. home for producing Keytruda, a cancer treatment drug and the company’s biggest-selling product.
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