Lilly to buy Wisconsin injectables plant as tirzepatide shortages continue
Lilly is adding a plant it says could start making injectable medicines by the end of 2025, a timeline that is well after the current shortages of its tirzepatide drugs are expected to ease.
Eli Lilly has agreed to buy an injectables manufacturing plant in Pleasant Prairie, Wisconsin, from Nexus Pharmaceuticals, adding production capacity as shortages of its tirzepatide medicines drag on [1][2]. The deal was announced Monday, April 22, 2024, and the purchase price was not disclosed [1][2].
The facility is 84,000 square feet and opened in 2021, with commercial production starting in 2023, according to Nexus's website [1][2]. Nexus says it invested $100 million in the site [2], which recently passed an inspection by the Food and Drug Administration [2]. Because the plant does not currently offer contract manufacturing services, it will be devoted to Lilly's own medicines once the deal closes [1][2].
Lilly expects production there could begin by the end of 2025 [1][2]. A company spokesperson declined to tell BioPharma Dive whether Zepbound or Mounjaro would be made at the site [2], and Lilly has not said how many Nexus employees at the plant will transfer to its team [1].
Edgardo Hernandez, Lilly's executive vice president and president of manufacturing, said the company is "looking forward to welcoming talented new Nexus colleagues to Lilly from the Pleasant Prairie facility" [1]. Nexus CEO Usman Ahmed said the "combination of our teams and infrastructure with Lilly's global platform will benefit patients all over the world" [1].
Shortages are still in effect
The acquisition comes as the FDA's shortage list continues to show limits on tirzepatide supply. The agency recently extended its projection for how long Mounjaro shortages will last and added most doses of Zepbound to its shortage database [1]. All but one dosage strength of Mounjaro are expected to be in short supply through the second quarter of 2024 [1]. The FDA lists the reason for both shortages as a "demand increase" [1]. BioPharma Dive reported on April 22 that doses of both injectable drugs were in shortage through the end of June, according to the FDA database [2].
Lilly is expanding capacity in other places, too. A plant in North Carolina is expected to come online by the end of this year [1], and the company has announced a $2.5 billion facility in Alzey, Germany, expected to begin operations in 2027 and eventually employ 1,000 people [1][2].
Competitor Novo Nordisk is also investing in manufacturing. In February, Novo's controlling shareholder, Novo Holdings, agreed to take contract manufacturer Catalent private for $16.5 billion, and Novo Nordisk will pay its parent company $11 billion for three Catalent plants [2]. Evercore ISI analyst Umer Raffat wrote that the Catalent deal gives Novo more additional capacity than Lilly's, but that Lilly "may likely invest significantly more to build [the Nexus site] out further" [2].
Why it matters for patients
An FDA shortage listing means the agency has determined that supply may not keep up with demand, and the listings apply to specific dosage strengths rather than to a drug as a whole [1][2]. When certain strengths are short, that is a supply-chain fact, not a statement about whether a medicine works [1].
The Wisconsin plant will not change availability in the near term. Lilly says production there could start at the end of 2025 at the earliest [1][2], while the FDA expected most Mounjaro doses and Zepbound doses to remain limited through the end of June 2024 [1][2].
Lilly has not said whether tirzepatide will be made at the Pleasant Prairie site at all; the spokesperson declined to comment on that question [2]. The number of employees moving from Nexus to Lilly also has not been disclosed [1].
What happens next
- Lilly and Nexus have not said when the acquisition is expected to close [1][2].
- Lilly expects production at Pleasant Prairie could begin by the end of 2025 [1][2].
- The North Carolina plant is expected to come online by the end of 2024 [1].
- Lilly said it plans by mid-year 2024 to ask the FDA and other regulators to expand Zepbound's label to cover sleep apnea, after a study showed the drug reduced sleep apnea events in people who are overweight or obese [2]. A broader label could add further demand for injectable supply.
Sources
Semaglutides.org provides information only, not medical advice. Talk to a licensed provider about your own care before making changes. Some telehealth links are affiliate links and are labeled where they appear.