Where GLP-1 Drugs Are Made in the US
A state-by-state map of the US plants making semaglutide and tirzepatide, the tens of billions being spent to build more, the jobs those plants create, and why tariffs and drug pricing deals drove the whole build-out.
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Two American states now have economies materially shaped by GLP-1 drugs: Indiana and North Carolina. Several more are about to join them. This article maps where semaglutide and tirzepatide are actually made, what is being built, how many jobs are involved, and why a trade proclamation signed in April 2026 turned an ordinary capacity expansion into one of the largest industrial build-outs in recent US history.
It is a market and economics article, not medical advice.
This page contains no dosing guidance. It does not describe what dose to take, how to change a dose, when to start or stop a medication, or how to combine one with another. Those are set by the FDA-approved prescribing information and Instructions for Use for each product, by your own prescription, and by your provider.
The short version
- Tirzepatide (Mounjaro, Zepbound) active ingredient comes principally from Eli Lilly’s Lebanon, Indiana complex, a USD 9 billion site in the state’s LEAP district, with injectable finishing in Kenosha County, Wisconsin and additional capacity in North Carolina and Indianapolis.
- Semaglutide (Ozempic, Wegovy, Rybelsus) active ingredient comes principally from Novo Nordisk’s Kalundborg, Denmark site, with substantial US operations in Clayton and Durham, North Carolina.
- Orforglipron (Foundayo), a small molecule rather than a peptide, will be made in part at Lilly’s new Huntsville, Alabama API plant.
- Most of the announced new capacity does not produce medicine until somewhere between late 2026 and 2032.
Eli Lilly’s US map
Lilly has announced more than USD 50 billion in US manufacturing investment since 2020 [1]. That total is built from a USD 23 billion base of commitments from 2020 to 2024 plus at least USD 27 billion announced in February 2025 for four new domestic sites [2].
Lebanon, Indiana (LEAP district) — the tirzepatide engine
This is the single most important GLP-1 manufacturing site in the United States.
| Detail | Figure |
|---|---|
| Total investment | USD 9 billion, after a USD 5.3 billion increase in May 2024 [3] |
| Purpose | Active pharmaceutical ingredient for Zepbound and Mounjaro [3] |
| Site size | nearly 600 acres [3] |
| Permanent jobs | about 900 when fully operational, including 200 added with the expansion [3] |
| Construction jobs | more than 5,000 [3] |
| Production start | near the end of 2026, scaling through 2028 [4] |
Indiana is contributing road, water, electric and other utility infrastructure, workforce development commitments, and economic incentives tied to Lilly hitting investment and employment targets [3]. The state also committed land, pending approval, for a learning and training center within the LEAP development, alongside Lilly-funded scholarship and training programs with Purdue University and Ivy Tech Community College and a BioCrossroads-led training center at 16 Tech [3].
A separate project on the same campus, the Lilly Medicine Foundry, was announced in October 2024 as a USD 4.5 billion integrated manufacturing and R&D facility, expected operational in late 2027 with about 400 jobs [5]. In August 2026, Lilly committed an additional USD 4.5 billion across its Indiana sites [1].
Kenosha County, Wisconsin — injectables
Lilly acquired an injectable manufacturing facility in Pleasant Prairie from Nexus Pharmaceuticals and then announced a USD 3 billion expansion, bringing total Wisconsin investment to about USD 4 billion [5]. Lilly’s manufacturing chief called it the company’s largest US manufacturing investment outside its home state of Indiana at the time [5].
Huntsville, Alabama — the orforglipron plant
Announced December 9, 2025 [6]:
| Detail | Figure |
|---|---|
| Investment | more than USD 6 billion |
| Purpose | small molecule synthetic and peptide API, explicitly including orforglipron (Foundayo) |
| Permanent jobs | 450 |
| Construction jobs | about 3,000 |
| Construction start | 2026 |
| Completion | 2032 |
Alabama officials described it as the largest capital investment for a project in state history [7].
Houston, Texas — Generation Park
Announced September 23, 2025 [8]:
| Detail | Figure |
|---|---|
| Investment | USD 6.5 billion |
| Purpose | next-generation synthetic medicine API including cardiometabolic products |
| Permanent jobs | 615 |
| Construction jobs | about 4,000 |
Lilly estimates up to four dollars of local economic activity for every dollar it spends in the region, and several additional jobs in supply chain, logistics and retail for every manufacturing job created [8].
Fogelsville, Upper Macungie Township, Pennsylvania — the injectable device campus
Lilly’s fourth new US site is a USD 3.5 billion injectable medicine and device campus in Fogelsville, tied to its injectable incretin portfolio and to retatrutide. Upper Macungie Township supervisors granted final land development approval on September 2, 2026; peak construction is projected for the fourth quarter of 2027 through the first quarter of 2029, with up to 1,500 workers on site, and the facility is expected to be operational by 2031 [26][27]. (updated 2026-09-14)
Goochland County, Virginia — the first of the four
Announced September 16, 2025 [9]:
| Detail | Figure |
|---|---|
| Investment | USD 5 billion |
| Purpose | antibody drug conjugates and monoclonal antibodies, not incretins |
| Permanent jobs | more than 650 |
| Construction jobs | about 1,800 |
| Ready by | 2030 [10] |
Worth noting: the Virginia plant is not a GLP-1 site. It is funded from the capital program GLP-1 profits made possible, which is a recurring pattern in this build-out.
North Carolina and Puerto Rico
Lilly operates or is building at Research Triangle Park and Concord, North Carolina, where a USD 1.7 billion plant is on track for completion by 2027 [2].
In Puerto Rico, Lilly announced a USD 1.2 billion expansion on October 29, 2025 at a site that has operated for 60 years, adding about 100 permanent skilled jobs and up to 1,000 construction jobs, with construction beginning in 2026 and oral drug production starting by the end of 2028 [11].
Novo Nordisk’s US map
Novo’s manufacturing story in the US is concentrated almost entirely in North Carolina, and it comes with a complication that Lilly’s does not.
Clayton, Johnston County, North Carolina
| Detail | Figure |
|---|---|
| Investment | USD 4.1 billion [12] |
| New production space | 1.4 million square feet [12] |
| New jobs | about 1,000 [12] |
| Footprint | 56 acres [13] |
| External contractors currently engaged | roughly 2,000 [13] |
| Completion | in phases between 2027 and 2029 [13] |
| Existing NC workforce | more than 2,500 Novo employees statewide, almost 1,200 manufacturing workers in Johnston County [12][14] |
Three caveats on that table. The 56-acre footprint, the contractor headcount and the phased 2027-2029 completion schedule come from a video report rather than a Novo statement or a permit filing, and are recorded here as unverified. The Johnston County manufacturing headcount is cited to a social media post that does not itself document the figure, and is likewise unverified. The USD 4.1 billion investment, the 1.4 million square feet and the roughly 1,000 new jobs are the figures corroborated in trade press reporting of Novo’s own announcement [12].
Novo has operated in Johnston County since opening its first plant there in 1993 [12]. The Clayton expansion adds aseptic manufacturing and finished-production capacity aimed directly at injectable products. A separate smaller USD 22 million Clayton investment creating 22 full-time jobs was also announced [14].
The contradiction
Here is the part that makes North Carolina the most interesting GLP-1 economy in the country.
On September 10, 2025, five weeks into new CEO Mike Doustdar’s tenure, Novo announced 9,000 job cuts globally, about 11.5% of its 78,400-person workforce, including roughly 5,000 in Denmark, the largest corporate layoff in Danish history [15][16][25]. The company targeted annual savings of about DKK 8 billion, roughly USD 1.25 billion, by the end of 2026, and booked about DKK 9 billion in one-off restructuring costs in the third quarter of 2025 [16][25].
In the United States, 265 layoffs were listed at Novo’s Plainsboro, New Jersey headquarters as of October 8, 2025 [17].
Yet in late August 2025 a Novo spokeswoman confirmed the Clayton expansion was going forward, saying “U.S. manufacturing sites remain top priority” and that “our core business is built on diabetes and obesity, and our North Carolina facilities in Durham and Clayton are essential to producing those treatments” [12].
The pattern across the industry is the same: commercial and administrative headcount is falling while manufacturing capital spending rises. Six large drugmakers announced potential cuts affecting more than 39,000 employees in the same period, led by Novo’s 9,000 and Merck’s roughly 6,000 [18]. If you read “pharma is cutting jobs” and “pharma is building plants” in the same week, both are true, and they are about different jobs.
Why all of this is happening now
Three forces, in order of importance.
1. Demand outran capacity
GLP-1 prescription volume in the US went from about 2.5 million a month before October 2022 to more than 9 million a month by the end of 2024. Shortages of both semaglutide and tirzepatide ran from late 2022 into early 2025, which is what created the compounded GLP-1 market in the first place. Lilly’s Lebanon investment was explicitly framed as expanding tirzepatide API capacity while compounders challenged the FDA’s shortage determination [5].
2. Tariffs
On April 2, 2026, the President signed a Section 232 proclamation imposing a 100% ad valorem tariff on imported patented pharmaceuticals, their active ingredients and key starting materials [19]. The rate structure is what drove behavior:
- Default: 100%
- Companies with onshoring plans approved by the Secretary of Commerce: 20%, escalating to 100% in 2030
- Companies with both approved onshoring plans and most-favored-nation pricing agreements: 0% through January 20, 2029 [20]
That last line is the entire explanation for the build-out. A US plant plus a pricing agreement equals a zero tariff rate for three years. Annex II of the proclamation lists the company agreements already in place, including Eli Lilly’s, dated February 23, 2026 [21]. Novo Nordisk reached its own US tariff and manufacturing agreement in November 2025 [22].
Reuters reported that Lilly outlined its USD 27 billion four-site plan specifically “to counter potential drug import duties” [11]. The Wall Street Journal put industry-wide US manufacturing and research pledges at about USD 350 billion [23].
3. Political positioning
The February 2025 four-site announcement was made at a press conference in Washington, D.C. [8]. In January 2026 the President said Lilly planned to build six new US plants [2]. These announcements are simultaneously capacity decisions and political artifacts, and it is worth separating what has been pledged from what has been poured.
What is real versus what is announced
A useful discipline when reading any of these numbers:
Announced means a press release with a dollar figure and a job count. Under construction means dirt is moving. Producing means a plant has passed FDA inspection and is releasing product.
As of September 2026, on the GLP-1-relevant sites:
| Site | Status |
|---|---|
| Lebanon, Indiana (Lilly, tirzepatide API) | Under construction since 2023; production expected near end of 2026 [4] |
| Kenosha County, Wisconsin (Lilly, injectables) | Operating and expanding [5] |
| Clayton, North Carolina (Novo, fill-finish) | Pre-construction and foundation work underway; phased completion 2027-2029 [13] |
| Concord, North Carolina (Lilly) | On track for completion by 2027 [2] |
| Lilly Medicine Foundry, Indiana | Expected operational late 2027 [5] |
| Puerto Rico (Lilly, orals) | Construction from 2026; production by end of 2028 [11] |
| Houston, Texas (Lilly, API) | Announced September 2025 [8] |
| Goochland County, Virginia (Lilly) | Ready by 2030 [10] |
| Fogelsville, Pennsylvania (Lilly, injectables and devices) | Final land development approval September 2, 2026; operational by 2031 [26][27] (updated 2026-09-14) |
| Huntsville, Alabama (Lilly, orforglipron API) | Construction from 2026; completion 2032 [6] |
If you are wondering when domestic manufacturing might actually lower what you pay, the honest answer from that table is: not soon, and probably not much directly. Onshoring mostly buys tariff relief and supply security. The price changes Americans saw in 2026 came from cash-pay competition, federal pricing deals and Medicare negotiation, not from where a plant sits.
What to watch
Whether the plants hit their dates. Large pharmaceutical facilities routinely slip. The Lebanon, Indiana start date is the nearest-term test.
Whether the tariff relief holds. The zero rate for companies with onshoring plans and MFN agreements runs through January 20, 2029, and the 20% onshoring rate escalates to 100% in 2030 [20]. Both dates create pressure to have plants finished, not just announced.
Whether Novo’s US manufacturing survives further restructuring. The company has been explicit that US sites are a priority, but it has also cut 11.5% of its global workforce and guided to flat-to-declining adjusted sales for 2026 [16][22].
Whether generic tariffs reshape the map again. The July 2026 announcement that imported generics face 100% tariffs from August 2028 and 200% from August 2029 [24] is aimed at a different set of companies, but it lands three years before semaglutide’s US patent expires and will shape who makes generic semaglutide for Americans, and where.
Sources
- Eli Lilly and Company, “Lilly reports second-quarter 2026 financial results,” August 5, 2026. https://investor.lilly.com/news-releases/news-release-details/lilly-reports-second-quarter-2026-financial-results-raises-full
- Yahoo Finance, “Eli Lilly and Company (LLY) Expands U.S. Manufacturing and Advances Breakthrough Therapies.” https://finance.yahoo.com/news/eli-lilly-company-lly-expands-143551127.html
- American Pharmaceutical Review, “Lilly Increases Manufacturing Investment to $9B at Newest Indiana Site.” https://www.americanpharmaceuticalreview.com/1315-News/613297-Lilly-Increases-Manufacturing-Investment-to-9B-at-Newest-Indiana-Site-to-Boost-API-Production-for-Tirzepatide-and-Pipeline-Medicines
- European Pharmaceutical Review, “Major manufacturing investment to support API production for tirzepatide.” https://www.europeanpharmaceuticalreview.com/news/major-manufacturing-investment-to-support-api-production-for-tirzepatide/229480.article
- BioSpace, “Lilly Pumps $3B Into Wisconsin Site as Compounders Close In on Tirzepatide.” https://www.biospace.com/business/lilly-pumps-3b-into-wisconsin-site-as-compounders-close-in-on-tirzepatide
- Eli Lilly and Company, “Lilly to build $6 billion facility to manufacture active pharmaceutical ingredients in Alabama,” December 9, 2025. https://investor.lilly.com/news-releases/news-release-details/lilly-build-6-billion-facility-manufacture-active-pharmaceutical
- WHNT News 19, Huntsville facility announcement, December 9, 2025. https://www.facebook.com/whntnews19/posts/pharmaceutical-giant-eli-lilly-announced-on-tuesday-it-plans-to-invest-more-than/1411302010580036
- Eli Lilly and Company, “Lilly plans to build a new $6.5 billion facility to manufacture active pharmaceutical ingredients in Texas,” September 23, 2025. https://investor.lilly.com/news-releases/news-release-details/lilly-plans-build-new-65-billion-facility-manufacture-active
- CNBC, “Eli Lilly to build $5 billion Virginia manufacturing facility,” September 16, 2025. https://www.cnbc.com/2025/09/16/eli-lilly-to-build-5-billion-virginia-manufacturing-facility.html
- Chemical & Engineering News, “GSK and Lilly to spend billions on US manufacturing,” September 2025. https://cen.acs.org/pharmaceuticals/GSK-Lilly-spend-billions-US/103/web/2025/09
- Reuters, “Eli Lilly to invest $1.2 billion in Puerto Rico as part of US manufacturing push,” October 29, 2025. https://www.reuters.com/sustainability/boards-policy-regulation/eli-lilly-invest-12-billion-puerto-rico-part-us-manufacturing-push-2025-10-29
- Business North Carolina, “NC Trend: Novo Cuts Back, Natron Implodes.” https://businessnc.com/nove-cuts-back-natron-implodes
- Video report on the Novo Nordisk Clayton expansion and restructuring. Low-reliability source; figures drawn from it are flagged unverified in the text. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V1CJU7dIpKc
- Social media post citing Novo Nordisk Johnston County employment and investment. Low-reliability source; the post’s primary subject is a different company, and figures drawn from it are flagged unverified in the text. https://www.facebook.com/GwinnettGov/posts/icymi-global-biopharmaceutical-leader-ucb-is-building-its-first-us-manufacturing/1423498439807173
- People Matters, “Novo Nordisk confirms 9,000 job cuts globally amid restructuring.” https://www.peoplematters.in/news/talent-management/novo-nordisk-to-cut-9000-jobs-globally-amid-restructuring-43495
- Fierce Pharma, “Amid restructuring, Novo Nordisk directs employees to return to office.” https://www.fiercepharma.com/pharma/amid-restructuring-novo-nordisk-orders-employees-return-office
- New Jersey 101.5, “Major job cuts hit Novo Nordisk in Plainsboro, New Jersey.” https://nj1015.com/novo-nordisk-job-cuts-new-jersey
- GeneOnline, “Pharmaceutical Industry Restructuring: Novo Nordisk and Merck Lead 39,000 Job Cuts.” https://www.geneonline.com/pharmaceutical-industry-restructuring-novo-nordisk-and-merck-lead-39000-job-cuts
- The White House, “Adjusting Imports of Pharmaceuticals and Pharmaceutical Ingredients into the United States,” April 2, 2026. https://www.whitehouse.gov/presidential-actions/2026/04/adjusting-imports-of-pharmaceuticals-and-pharmaceutical-ingredients-into-the-united-states
- Ropes & Gray, “100% On Brand: U.S. Imposes New Tariffs (and Key Exemptions) on Patented Pharmaceuticals,” April 2026. https://www.ropesgray.com/en/insights/alerts/2026/04/100-on-brand-us-imposes-new-tariffs-and-key-exemptions-on-patented-pharmaceuticals
- Federal Register public inspection document 2026-06956, Annexes to the pharmaceutical tariff proclamation. https://public-inspection.federalregister.gov/2026-06956.pdf
- Novo Nordisk, “Financial report for the period 1 January 2026 to 30 June 2026,” August 4, 2026. https://attachment.news.eu.nasdaq.com/a0078e15b379bff5e3b0ffdbddb3d5075
- The Wall Street Journal, “Eli Lilly and Other Drugmakers Pledge $350 Billion to Boost U.S. Manufacturing and Research in Wake of Tariff Threats.” https://www.wsj.com/health/pharma/us-pharmaceutical-industry-manufacturing-investment-89838fa4
- Reuters, “Trump says generic drugs to face no US tariffs for 2 years, then 100% and 200% tariffs later,” July 21, 2026. https://www.reuters.com/business/healthcare-pharmaceuticals/trump-says-generic-drugs-face-no-us-tariffs-2-years-before-rates-100-200-later-2026-07-21
- Reuters, “Novo Nordisk slashes 9,000 jobs to slim down in fierce weight-loss drug battle,” September 10, 2025. https://www.reuters.com/business/novo-nordisk-slashes-9000-jobs-slim-down-fierce-weight-loss-drug-battle-2025-09-10
- Lehigh Valley Press, “Upper Macungie gives approval for final development plan for Eli Lilly,” September 11, 2026. https://www.lvpnews.com/20260911/upper-macungie-gives-approval-for-final-development-plan-for-eli-lilly/
- Construction Review Online, “Eli Lilly’s $3.5B manufacturing campus advances in Upper Macungie, Pennsylvania.” https://constructionreviewonline.com/eli-lillys-3-5b-manufacturing-campus-advances-in-upper-macungie-pennsylvania/
Questions people ask
Where is Ozempic made?
Novo Nordisk makes semaglutide active ingredient primarily in Kalundborg, Denmark, with major US operations in Clayton and Durham, North Carolina. Novo is spending USD 4.1 billion to add 1.4 million square feet of fill-and-finish and finished-product capacity in Clayton.
Where is Zepbound made?
Eli Lilly makes tirzepatide active ingredient at its Lebanon, Indiana site in the LEAP district, a USD 9 billion complex, with injectable capacity in Kenosha County, Wisconsin and additional US sites in North Carolina and Indianapolis.
How much is being spent on US GLP-1 manufacturing?
Eli Lilly has announced more than USD 50 billion in US manufacturing since 2020, including at least USD 27 billion for four new sites. Novo Nordisk committed USD 4.1 billion to Clayton, North Carolina. Industry-wide US pledges have been reported at about USD 350 billion.
Why are drugmakers building US plants now?
Two reasons. Demand for GLP-1s outran capacity, and the April 2026 Section 232 proclamation set a 100% tariff on imported patented drugs with a zero rate for companies that have both approved onshoring plans and most-favored-nation pricing agreements.
How many jobs do these plants create?
Individual site announcements range from roughly 100 to 1,000 permanent jobs, with construction jobs several times higher. Lilly's Houston site alone is 615 permanent and about 4,000 construction jobs.
Is Novo Nordisk cutting jobs while building plants?
Yes, both at once. Novo announced 9,000 global job cuts in September 2025, about 11.5% of its workforce, while continuing the USD 4.1 billion Clayton expansion. The cuts hit commercial and administrative roles more than manufacturing.
When will these new plants actually make medicine?
Lilly's Lebanon, Indiana site was expected to begin production near the end of 2026 and scale through 2028. Novo's Clayton expansion completes in phases between 2027 and 2029. Lilly's Huntsville, Alabama site is expected complete in 2032.
This article summarizes FDA labeling, published research and company information current as of September 14, 2026. It is not medical advice and does not replace a conversation with your own healthcare provider. How we research and verify.