Lilly and Resilience invest $750M in diabetes and obesity drug device supply
July 31, 2026 |
1 min read |
Nick Paul Taylor
The investment will expand Resilience’s U.S. capacity to make the KwikPen device Eli Lilly uses to deliver its injectable diabetes and obesity medicines
Eli Lilly is expanding its partnership with service provider Resilience, with the pair committing $750 million to U.S. drug manufacturing capacity
The partners are using the cash to bolster Resilience’s operations in the Cincinnati region. Through the investment, Resilience will significantly increase U.S. production of Lilly’s KwikPen injectable device for diabetes and obesity medicines. The contract development and manufacturing organization (CDMO) is preparing the site for expansion with the aim of starting full operations early next year
In February, Lilly won FDA approval for Zepbound in a multidose KwikPen device. The product includes four doses of the GLP-1/GIP receptor agonist, providing a month of treatment for obesity or overweight in one device
Obesity
Lilly maintains weight loss leadership as Foundayo, Zepbound keep pounds off after switching
Despite seeing some regain, patients in two trials maintained most of their weight loss after switching to either Foundayo or lower-dose Zepbound from other injectable incretin therapies.
May 13, 2026
· 2 min read
· Tristan Manalac
Read more
Resilience expects the KwikPen capacity expansion to create at least 400 jobs in the Cincinnati area. The addition of the new roles will bring the number of jobs created by Resilience in Ohio—where the CDMO has two sites around Cincinnati—up to 1,400. Resilience also has plants in Philadelphia and Toronto
The spend on the Ohio site continues Resilience’s rapid rise. Launched in 2020 with more than $800 million from backers including Arch Venture Partners and 8VC, the CDMO went on to form pacts with companies including AstraZeneca, Sanofi and Takeda while raising almost $2.5 billion across two financing rounds, a debt deal and a loan from the U.S. Department of Defense
Resilience has used the money to add manufacturing capacity. The CDMO expanded a facility in West Chester, Ohio, in 2023; invested $225 million in a Cincinnati plant in 2024; and grew at two Ohio locations in 2025. In June, Resilience moved its corporate headquarters from San Diego to Blue Ash, Ohio, a northern suburb of Cincinnati. The company has partnered with JobsOhio to help staff the sites
The CDMO began working with Lilly in 2023. Resilience’s archives lack a press release naming Lilly as a partner in 2023, although that year the CDMO did disclose a 10-year biomanufacturing alliance with an unnamed “leading pharmaceutical company.” At the time, Resilience predicted the deal would support record revenues. Resilience has made more than 150 million doses of medicines for Lilly
Manufacturing
Lilly invests $4.5B in Indiana manufacturing, opens doors of 1st genetic medicine site
Eli Lilly’s latest manufacturing expansion will support production of obesity blockbusters and next-gen assets, while the new Lilly Lebanon Advanced Therapies site will take experimental genetic medicines from research to commercialization.
May 8, 2026
· 1 min read
· Gabrielle Masson
Read more
ObesityGLP-1Manufacturing
Eli Lilly and Company
Nick Paul Taylor
