Great pride. In the ranks of Lilly employees and management at the Fegersheim factory (Bas-Rhin), a few kilometers from Strasbourg, the arrival of Mounjaro, the future star of treatments against obesity and diabetes, has made jump for joy. The Alsatian factory, established in the region for half a century, was chosen by the American pharmaceutical laboratory to accommodate, from 2026, a production line dedicated to the manufacture of this new treatment. “Today marks a new turning point for Fegersheim. This drug can change the lives of millions of patients, and it will be produced here, in France, on this site”welcomed Monday October 23 Marcel Lechanteur, CEO of Lilly France and Benelux, alongside the Minister of Industry, Roland Lescure, who came to celebrate the announcement.
Fegersheim will not produce tirzepatide, the active ingredient in Mounjaro, but it will carry out all subsequent stages of manufacturing the product, from formulation to filling the injector pens and packaging them. A great recognition for the Alsatian factory – one of the group’s three factories located in Europe – which has increased its investments in recent years to modernize its equipment. This new financing of 160 million euros, without any financial aid from the State, and of which the majority (107 million euros) will be devoted to Mounjaro, above all marks the beginnings of a vast plan of attack from Lilly for the global conquest of the obesity market, an Eldorado that makes Big Pharma salivate.
Because Mounjaro, in addition to its virtues in the treatment of type 2 diabetes, has proven to be particularly effective in helping patients suffering from obesity to lose weight. Its clinical results even show that the weight loss induced by the drug would be greater than that of its Danish rival already on the market, Wegovy, marketed by the Novo Nordisk laboratory.
Exaggerated predictions
After years of disillusionment, punctuated by treatments with more or less pronounced effectiveness, the arrival of this very promising arsenal has unsurprisingly panicked the planet, which is rushing towards these new treatments despite their high cost. In the United States, where Wegovy received the green light from health authorities in 2021 to be prescribed against obesity, Novo Nordisk preferred to suspend all advertising of the drug as demand is strong. The success is such that WeightWatchers, the champion of the slimming diet, which had always refused to rely on a medicinal solution, has been converted. In March, he bought Sequence, a telehealth start-up which offers, across the Atlantic, prescriptions for drugs against obesity.
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