Eli Lilly and Company has chosen the Lehigh Valley in Pennsylvania for its next manufacturing site.

With Lilly investing more than $3.5 billion in the site, the facility will produce next-generation weight-loss therapies. These include retatrutide, an investigational gastric inhibitory peptide (GIP), glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1), and glucagon triple hormone receptor agonist.

Lilly Increasing U.S. Manufacturing

Pennsylvania is now the fourth U.S. location Lilly has announced plans for in the past year. The most recent prior to this was in Alabama, as disclosed in December 2025. Construction in Fogelsville, Pa. is expected to commence later in 2026.

That construction will create an estimated 2,000 jobs. When the site is operational, 850 high-value jobs will come to the area. These include engineers, scientists, operations personnel, and lab technicians.

In the immediate area, Lilly estimates four dollars in local economic activity for every dollar it is investing. And, for each manufacturing job, several more opportunities may present themselves in the supply chain, logistics, and retail fields.

“Our mission starts with patients and delivering the medicines they need,” said David A. Ricks, Lilly chair and CEO. “To meet increasing demand, we’re expanding our U.S. manufacturing network, with Lehigh Valley adding capacity for next‑generation weight-loss medicines. We’re creating high‑quality jobs and collaborating across the region—with suppliers, educators, and workforce‑development partners—to make critical medicines.”

Why Pennsylvania Was Chosen

At the Lehigh Valley site, Lilly plans to make use of AI, machine learning, integrated monitoring, and data analytics. In this way, the company can enable efficient operations, as well as a reliable medicine supply.

The area was selected from among more than 300 applicants. Lilly chose the location for its proximity to STEM (science, technology, engineering, and math) universities, with which it will partner.

Lilly said the site should become operational by 2031.