Eli Lilly and Company Announces Expansion of San Diego Biotechnology Center

INDIANAPOLIS, July 23, 2015 /PRNewswire/ -- Eli Lilly and Company (NYSE: LLY) today revealed plans to expand the Lilly Biotechnology Center located in San Diego, Calif. The expansion will effectively double Lilly's research presence in San Diego as the company seeks to develop new collaborations in one of the world's leading regions for drug research and development.  

Set to be completed in 2016, the expansion will feature an additional 175,000 square feet of working space and is expected to generate up to 130 potential new job openings, yielding a 140 percent increase in the center's space and 70 percent increase in its staff. 

"San Diego has been an important location for Lilly laboratories for more than a decade. The city is a global hub for biomedical research and talent, where collaboration between academic institutions and biotechnology thrives," said Thomas F. Bumol, Ph.D., senior vice president, biotechnology and immunology research at Lilly. "We want to build on our success in San Diego through expanded collaborations that ultimately allow us to bring better medicines to people faster than ever before."

Importantly, the space will allow for closer collaboration among Lilly experts in discovery chemistry and research technologies and biotechnology, which will help accelerate the discovery of new medicines within the company's core therapeutic areas, including immunology. 

The expansion also signifies Lilly's investment in obtaining additional top scientific talent. Specifically, Lilly will be recruiting experts in drug discovery in the disciplines of biotechnology, chemistry and immunology and in immunological clinical development.

"The molecular discovery capabilities at the Lilly Biotechnology Center represent state of the art platforms to enable pharmaceutical innovation across the continuum of small and large molecules," said Alan D. Palkowitz, Ph.D., vice president, discovery chemistry research & technologies at Lilly. "The expanded investment will further Lilly's leadership in these core areas and catalyze future discoveries."

Lilly initially entered the San Diego area in 2004 by acquiring Applied Molecular Evolution, Inc., which now operates as a subsidiary of the company. The Lilly Biotechnology Center was officially established in 2009 and is located near the University of California, San Diego, among other prominent biomedical research institutions.