Construction begins on $4.5 billion Eli Lilly facility in Lebanon

Indianapolis-based pharmaceutical company Eli Lilly broke ground Tuesday on its $4.5 billion facility in Lebanon.

The Lilly Medicine Foundry will be a research and development facility located at the LEAP industrial district in the city, northwest of Indianapolis. Lilly's planned investment in the area tops more than $13 billion.

The new site will primarily focus on manufacturing medications and distributing them to patients. Lilly officials say the facility will allow them to make new medicines "more efficiently" and with "greener methods."

Indiana Governor Mike Braun and Lilly CEO Dave Ricks attended the groundbreaking ceremony.

"The foundry will be the first facility to integrate research process development and advanced manufacturing in one place," Ricks said. "I think the first in our industry and maybe the first in the United States."

Gov. Braun emphasized how the new facility will be a boon for the economy. Braun and others at the event claimed it will significantly lower the need to outsource pharmaceutical work to other countries.

"Not only is bringing pharma production back to the US, good for our country," Braun said, "it's good for patients and consumers as well, bringing new medicine to clinical trials two months faster than current industry benchmarks."

Construction of the Lilly Medicine Foundry is expected to create demand for over 2,000 construction jobs. Staffing the facility is projected to create 400 new jobs.

Some local residents and leaders have criticized the LEAP district in recent years. Much of their criticism surrounds questions of adequate water resources to support the district and a lack of transparency from the Indiana Economic Development Corporation.

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