Eli Lilly CEO Dave Ricks informed CNBC that approximately one-third of new patients prescribed GLP-1 oral medications are utilizing the company’s Foundayo, signaling strong early adoption as the pharmaceutical giant accelerates its manufacturing expansion.
Ricks made these remarks while standing on a roughly 240-acre plot in Houston, Texas, which will become the site of a new $6.5 billion manufacturing facility at Generation Park. On Monday, the company officially broke ground on the project, nearly a year after initially announcing the plan. Lilly projects the plant will be fully operational by 2030.
The facility is designed to primarily produce Foundayo, the company’s highly anticipated oral GLP-1 treatment for obesity that launched in the United States this past April. Beyond this flagship drug, the plant will also manufacture active pharmaceutical ingredients for other small-molecule therapies targeting cardiometabolic health, oncology, immunology, and neuroscience.
This development marks another significant step in Lilly’s strategy to reshore production within the United States. In February 2025, the company committed an additional $27 billion to construct four new facilities, with the Houston site being a key component. Executives have noted that these investments serve to build goodwill with the Trump administration while strengthening domestic supply chains.
Lilly has highlighted manufacturing capacity as a critical competitive edge against rival Novo Nordisk, alongside its robust drug portfolio. Since 2020, the company has invested more than $50 billion in expanding its production network, aiming to meet surging demand for obesity and diabetes treatments and to support future product launches.
Commercial demand for Foundayo is already showing promise. In August, Eli Lilly reported that the pill generated $98 million in sales during the second quarter, representing its first full three months on the market. Industry observers expect accessibility to expand further following Medicare’s new landmark coverage of obesity drugs, which took effect in July and is anticipated to drive greater utilization of both Foundayo and Lilly’s blockbuster weight-loss injection, Zepbound.
Finally, good news for Houston! Those jobs will be huge for the local economy and supply chain.
$6.5 billion is a massive bet. I hope they can actually hit that 2030 deadline without blowing the budget.