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12/10/2025
Eli Lilly and Co. has selected a Norfolk Southern Railway-served site in Huntsville, Alabama, for the location of a new $6 billion manufacturing facility.
In February, the Indianapolis-based pharmaceutical company shared plans to more than double its domestic manufacturing base through the addition of four new U.S. manufacturing sites. The Huntsville location is the third announced, Eli Lilly officials said in a press release yesterday.
The site will have a dedicated NS rail spur, on which the railroad will deliver raw materials and transport finished products. Direct NS service made Huntsville a top contender for site selection, NS officials said in a separate press release.
The project is a "milestone" for rail in the biotechnology space, added Craig Hudson, NS group vice president of industrial development.
Spanning more than 1 million square feet, the multibuilding campus will contain manufacturing, logistics, packaging, lab and utilities operations for the production of small molecule synthetic and peptide medications, NS officials said. Notably, the site will be among those where Lilly will manufacture orforglipron, the company's first oral, small molecule GLP-1 receptor agonist.
"Huntsville's track record of science and innovation, supported by advanced manufacturing expertise and a skilled workforce, makes Alabama an ideal location for Lilly to expand domestic manufacturing capacity for next-generation medicines," said David Ricks, Lilly chair and CEO.
Lilly has operations in more than 110 countries and is a leader in treatments involving diabetes, obesity, oncology, immunology and neuroscience, NS officials said.