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Eli Lilly (NYSE:LLY) is planning to invest about a single-digit billion dollars for a new production plant in western Germany amid a shortage of a new class of weight-loss drugs called GLP-1 receptor agonists in the country, Reuters reported Wednesday.
“It’s about an investment in the single-digit billion range,” a person familiar with the matter said ahead of a company-organized press conference on Friday.
The state of Rhineland-Palatinate on the French border will be home to the new production plant, which is expected to require a considerable number of skilled employees.
The news comes days after an expert panel of the EU drug regulator, the European Medicines Agency (EMA) endorsed marketing authorization for Lilly’s (LLY) diabetes medication, tirzepatide, to be expanded for obesity.
Germany is facing a surging demand for GLP-1 diabetes drugs such as Lilly’s (LLY) Mounjaro and Novo Nordisk’s (NVO) Ozempic, driven by production constraints and their off-label use for weight loss.
Earlier in the day, Reuters reported that German regulator BfArM is considering a potential ban on Ozempic exports to ensure supplies for diabetes patients.
“We would then think about imposing an export ban so that enough remains in the country for the patients that need it,” Spiegel magazine reported, quoting BfArM President Karl Broich.
Several EU countries, such as Austria and France, have already stopped Ozempic exports, while others, such as Britain and Belgium, have imposed temporary bans on its weight-loss use.