New Eli Lilly factory
The weight loss injection will soon roll off the production line in Alzey
April 8, 2024, 7:15 p.m
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According to Chancellor Scholz, Eli Lilly is sending a clear signal for Germany as a business location with its billion-dollar investment. The new factory in Alzey promises up to 1,000 jobs and is intended to strengthen the pharmaceutical industry. A particularly hyped drug is also manufactured there.
The heads and responsible ministers of the federal government and the state government of Rhineland-Palatinate celebrated the groundbreaking ceremony in Alzey for the construction of a billion-dollar factory for the US pharmaceutical company Eli Lilly. Chancellor Olaf Scholz spoke of a “great signal for the attractiveness of Germany as a pharmaceutical and industrial location.” Eli Lilly says it plans to invest 2.3 billion euros and create up to 1,000 new jobs. Eli Lilly is one of the largest pharmaceutical companies in the world and employs around 38,000 people. In Germany there are currently 995.
In addition to Scholz, Rhineland-Palatinate Prime Minister Malu Dreyer, her Economics Minister Daniela Schmitt and the Federal Ministers for Health and Research, Karl Lauterbach and Bettina Stark-Watzinger, also attended the groundbreaking ceremony in Alzey. The act was initially symbolic – according to Eli Lilly, construction of the new plant is scheduled to begin in the summer. More than 2,000 people can be employed during the construction phase. Production is scheduled to start in 2027, and Alzey would then be the sixth production location in Europe. Close collaboration with an existing plant near Strasbourg in France is planned.
The new plant will help “continue to reliably provide safe, high-quality medicines,” said Eli Lilly CEO Dave Ricks. Among other things, the drug Mounjaro, which has become known as the “weight loss syringe”, is also to be manufactured in Alzey. It can be used for weight loss in obesity and in the treatment of diabetes.
A lot of headwind recently from the economy
There has been a real hype surrounding these effective medications in recent years. Companies such as Eli Lilly and the Danish drug manufacturer Novo Nordisk achieved enormous increases in sales through weight loss injections. “Pharma and biotech are very important for value creation, employment and innovation,” Scholz continued.
Eli Lilly’s settlement is also a “success” for the federal government. Company boss Ricks thanked: “We appreciate the support of the German authorities in this project and the interest of local politicians in creating reliable framework conditions that value innovations and give people quick access to new therapy options.”
Chancellor Scholz has recently faced a lot of headwind from the economy. Heads of important industry associations such as Siegfried Russwurm from the Federation of German Industries and Martin Wansleben from the German Chamber of Commerce and Industry had sharply criticized the federal government’s economic policy and explicitly the Chancellor: There was the feeling that the concerns and needs of entrepreneurs were not being taken into account by politicians .