U.S. pharmaceutical company Eli Lilly (LLY) has announced plans to build a $3 billion manufacturing plant in the Netherlands as it prepares to produce its highly-anticipated weight-loss pill Orforglipron.
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The Dutch plant is the latest investment Eli Lilly is making in the production of Orforglipron, which the company expects to receive regulatory approval in the second half of 2026. The pill is expected to be a game changer for weight-loss medications, which are currently taken by injection.
Orforglipron is also expected to help Eli Lilly cement its lead over Danish rival Novo Nordisk (NVO) in the red-hot obesity treatment market. Eli Lilly said the new Dutch facility will make the weight-loss pill for the European market and help strengthen its global supply chains.
Advanced Technologies
The manufacturing plant in the Netherlands will be equipped with advanced technologies such as paperless manufacturing and artificial intelligence (AI) real-time analytics. The company said the Netherlands was chosen for the manufacturing site partly due to its proximity to the European Medicines Agency as well as the availability of a skilled workforce.
The new plant will be situated in Leiden Bio Science Park in Katwijk, Netherlands, and is expected to create 500 skilled manufacturing jobs and about 1,500 construction positions. Construction on the plant is expected to start in early 2026. News of the Dutch plant comes days after Eli Lilly announced a $1.2 billion expansion of its manufacturing site in Puerto Rico to boost Orforglipron production.
Is LLY Stock a Buy?
The stock of Eli Lilly has a consensus Strong Buy rating among 22 Wall Street analysts. That rating is based on 18 Buy and four Hold recommendations issued in the last three months. The average LLY price target of $917.63 implies 1.98% upside from current levels.
