Pharmaceutical giant Eli Lilly announced plans to pour $450M in additional funding into its Research Triangle Park manufacturing facility, part of a wave of new investments in North Carolina’s booming biomanufacturing sector.

Before announcing the new investment, Indianapolis-based Eli Lilly had already committed roughly $4B in manufacturing facilities in the state, including $1.7B in the Research Triangle Park facility, which will start initial production later this year.

This news comes after a banner 2022 for North Carolina’s life sciences industry. According to stats from the North Carolina Biotechnology Center, 33 new projects worth $2.1B were announced last year, projected to create 2,700 jobs. The bulk of this investment was from big-name biomanufacturing firms including Lilly, Fujifilm Diosynth and Novo Nordisk.

The additional nearly half-billion dollars Lilly is investing will support expanded production of the firm’s incretin products, which treat diabetes. In November, the firm pledged to double existing production of this product line by the end of 2023.

In a statement, Eli Lilly Executive Vice President and President of Lilly Manufacturing Operations Edgardo Hernandez noted the firm is pushing to expand capacity to meet growing demand for new medicines and treatments.

When the new expanded facility becomes fully operational in 2027, Eli Lilly predicts it will create at least 100 new jobs.