Governor Greg Abbott on Sept. 21 delivered remarks at the groundbreaking ceremony for Eli Lilly and Company’s $6.5 billion active pharmaceutical ingredient manufacturing site at Generation Park in Harris County, according to a news release from the Governor’s office.
The project is the largest investment in active pharmaceutical ingredient manufacturing in Texas to date and will create more than 600 high-paying jobs, the release said.
“Today’s announcement adds to Texas’ record-breaking job growth and further strengthens our position as the best state in the country for business,” Abbott said in the release. “Lilly’s $6.5 billion capital investment expands our healthcare dominance in the Lone Star State. Strategic investments like this one strengthen our global supply chain for healthcare and medicines right here in Texas.”
During his remarks, the Governor described Texas as a national leader in pharmaceutical manufacturing, according to the release. Houston is home to the world’s largest medical center, and the Governor’s office said the Generation Park investment will add more than 600 high-paying jobs as part of a broader Texas life-sciences base that supplies medicines to patients across the country.
The groundbreaking follows an announcement in September 2025, when Abbott unveiled Lilly’s plan to build the roughly 1 million-square-foot Harris County facility for domestic production of next-generation small molecule synthetic medicines, with an investment of more than $6.5 billion and more than 600 new jobs, the release noted. A Texas Enterprise Fund grant of $5.5 million has been extended to Lilly, and the project has been approved under the Texas Jobs, Energy, Technology, and Innovation program, according to the Governor’s office.
Abbott was joined at the ceremony by Harris County Commissioner Rodney Ellis, Lilly Chair and CEO Dave Ricks, Lilly Houston Site Head Diane Tennenhouse, San Jacinto College Chancellor Dr. Brenda Hellyer and other local leaders and community partners, the release said.
The Governor’s office said additional photos from the event will be made available.