Lilly boosts oral GLP-1 manufacturing capability with new Netherlands facility

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Determined not to experience manufacturing capacity issues with its blockbuster-in-waiting oral GLP-1 obesity treatment, Lilly is investing in a new billion-dollar facility for orforglipron in Europe.

The pharma company is set to build a new €2.6 billion ($3 billion) manufacturing facility in Katwijk, the Netherlands that will cover orforglipron as well as some of Lilly’s oral medicine requirements in neuroscience, oncology and immunology.

Lilly expects to submit orforglipron for approval in obesity to global regulatory agencies by the end of this year and has been readying its global manufacturing base, including a new US site in Puerto Rico.

In Europe, the Katwijk facility will provide 500 manufacturing jobs and feature advanced capabilities including dock-to-dock automation and material flow, paperless manufacturing, process analytical technology and spray-dried dispersion.

Lilly already has four manufacturing sites across Europe: France, Ireland, Italy and Spain. Alongside the new Netherlands site at the Leiden Bio Science Park, it is planning two additional EU sites, in Ireland and Germany.

David Ricks, Lilly Chair and CEO, said: “Our planned expansion in Europe further strengthens our ability to deliver medicines to patients worldwide. Localised manufacturing ensures we can quickly respond to meet regional demand and accelerate distribution within Europe.

“Leiden Bio Science Park offers access to a skilled workforce, reliable infrastructure and proven pharmaceutical manufacturing capabilities.”

Growing its manufacturing footprint – from Europe to the US

This news builds on the company’s US manufacturing capacity expansion. Lilly recently announced an investment of over $1.2 billion to expand and modernise its del Caribe manufacturing site in Carolina, Puerto Rico. Once complete, the facility will also be one of the sites that manufactures orforglipron and production is expected to commence at the site by the end of 2028. 

Lily has announced two additional US manufacturing sites, in Texas and Virginia, with a further two locations expected to be declared in the next few months.

Looking ahead, Lilly’s recent investment in the Netherlands could position the company with competitive, market-ready oral GLP-1 medicines, should the obesity drug market fully shift from injectable drugs towards the easier oral administration method.

To date Lilly’s focus has been on its injectable GLP-1 obesity treatment Zepbound (tirzepatide), which garnered the pharma giant a respectable revenue of $28.3 billion in H1 2025.

However, heated competition in the obesity market recently pushed fellow player Novo Nordisk to restructure, specifically via plans to cut its workforce by approximately 9,000 employees. Last month ended with Novo initiating a proposal for Metsera Therapeutics, following Pfizer’s acquisition of the young biotech in September. Novo has since made an updated, unsolicited bid which Metsera has regarded as a superior proposal to Pfizer’s. The final outcome is subject to the terms of Pfizer’s merger agreement with Metsera.