Pharmaceutical manufacturing giant Eli Lilly and Co. is exploring potential economic incentives for a $5.9B biomanufacturing plant in Northeast Houston, according to documents filed with the state comptroller.
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Eli Lilly is considering a 236-acre tract of McCord Development’s Generation Park for the manufacturing plant, which would have a direct economic impact worth $2.5B over 10 years, according to the documents.
The tax incentive agreement proposes limiting the local school district to only tax 50% of the project’s appraised value for 10 years, the Houston Business Journal first reported.
The Indianapolis-based company’s project is expected to create more than 2,000 construction jobs and 600 permanent jobs.
Eli Lilly manufactures drugs including Mounjaro and Zepbound, competitors to Ozempic. The company announced in February that it would more than double its U.S. manufacturing investment, bringing its capital expansion commitments to more than $50B since 2020.
The additional $27B would be spent on four new pharmaceutical manufacturing sites across the country, the company said. Eli Lilly was already in negotiations “with several states” at the time of that announcement and invited additional interest.
Despite the tax incentive application, the Houston project isn't confirmed to be proceeding, the Houston Chronicle reported.
“As announced in February, Lilly is actively evaluating manufacturing site locations throughout the U.S. to expand capacity to meet the growing demand for our current and future pipeline medicines across multiple therapeutic areas,” a company spokesperson said in a statement to the Chronicle. “Any future decisions will be shared at the appropriate time.”
McCord Development has zeroed in on attracting life sciences investment to Generation Park since Amgen picked North Carolina over Houston for a $550M biomanufacturing project in 2022.
The San Jacinto College’s Center for Biotechnology, which will provide National Institute for Bioprocessing Research and Training-licensed programs, is set to open this summer. BioHub Two, a 45-acre biomanufacturing campus, is also under development.
“We've continued to fortify the infrastructure within Generation Park … so companies of this size can be confident they’ll be able to operate efficiently,” Shawn Cloonan, general counsel for McCord Development, told the HBJ.
Eli Lilly also made waves locally this year for suing Houston-based Empower Pharmacy, alleging the company is selling knockoff versions of its weight-loss and diabetes medications.
