Lilly: Internal capacity increases and CDMOs to support Mounjaro scale-up

Eli Lilly expects “a substantial expansion” of capacity for its type 2 diabetes drug Mounjaro (tirzepatide) to come online around 2025 through internal investments and third-party support.

Mounjaro, a once-weekly GIP (glucose-dependent insulinotropic polypeptide) and GLP-1 (glucagon-like peptide-1) receptor, received US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in May this year.

The product is a first in a new class of type 2 diabetes medication and is expected to become a blockbuster for Eli Lilly, and sales in its first full quarter clocked in at $187 million.

But to reach its full potential, Lilly must ensure it has the available production capacity on hand.

“We know that we need to increase that capacity and we’re doing it in multiple ways,” Joe Fletcher, SVP of Investor Relations told stakeholders at the Evercore ISI HealthCONx Conference last week, adding: “We’ll probably see a substantial expansion around the 2025 time period.”

He referenced the firm’s site in Research Triangle Park (RTP), North Carolina. The Durham County facility, constructed as part of a $470 million investment in 2020, will produce numerous products for Lilly, but will also support Mounjaro scale-up when it comes online next year.

Fletcher added another site in Concord, North Carolina will be utilized to support Mounjaro. The firm broke ground on the $1 billion project earlier this year.

“And then we’re also leveraging more external manufacturing partners,” said Fletcher, though when pushed refused to add more color. “The real capacity increase though is going to be internal because most of it is internal.”