Eli Lilly to hive off Tippecanoe laboratory to Evonik Industries

Eli Lilly, a global pharmaceutical company and the world's largest manufacturer and distributor of psychiatric drugs, announced yesterday the sale of its Tippecanoe Laboratories manufacturing facility to German chemical company Evonik Industries for an undisclosed sum.

The sale of Tippecanoe Laboratories located in Lafayette, Indiana is the result of Lilly's strategic review for the lab that was announced in July 2008.

The Indiana-based company said that the decision to sell the site is based upon a projected decline in utilisation of the site due to several factors, including upcoming patent expirations on certain medicines made at the site,

Lilly said that its strategic decision was to purchase, rather than manufacture, many late-stage chemical intermediates, and the evolution of the Lilly pipeline toward more biotechnology medicines.

The Tippecanoe Laboratories will remain in operation with a focus on producing high-quality active pharmaceutical ingredients (API) and specialty chemical and animal health products.

The two companies will also enter into a nine-year supply and services agreement, whereby Evonik will manufacture some human and animal health products.

Approximately 700 current Lilly employees, representing all full-time non-contracted workers will be absorbed by Evonik.

"Today's announcement represents a positive outcome for employees at the site, the Lafayette community and Lilly," said John Lechleiter, Ph.D, Lilly's chairman and chief executive officer. "We are confident in our decision to sell Tippe Labs to Evonik, as it is a well-established multinational company that will continue to operate the site and more fully utilise its capabilities."