At least 400 new jobs are coming to West Chester in 2027.
Pharmaceutical giant Eli Lilly and Company on Thursday announced an expansion of its partnership with Resilience, a contract manufacturing company that produces medicines.
Resilience will begin producing Lilly’s KwikPen, an injectable device often used to administer medication for diabetes and obesity, at Resilience’s facility in the Butler County township.
Edgardo Hernandez, Lilly’s president of manufacturing operations, said the company trusts Resilience’s quality.
“When you're sick, you don't want to think about the quality of the medicine,” Hernandez said. “The medicine should be right, right? So, we have a common set of values and belief that the patient shouldn't care.”
Hernandez said the partnership comes at an opportune time because demand for the KwikPen is increasing.
Lilly has invested billions of dollars in U.S.-based manufacturing in recent years, including a recent $4.5 billion commitment in neighboring Indiana.
Resilience CEO Bill Marth said the new project will bring the two companies’ total investment in Ohio to $750 million and 1,400 jobs.
“We're investing in people, right? People, careers, skills, advanced manufacturing right here in Ohio,” Marth said. “And, you know, we are grateful for the partnership and the opportunity that Lilly has given us.”
Marth said the site is already being prepared, but KwikPen production will not fully begin until next year.
Though the Resilience facility in West Chester is largely automated, Josh Matson, the site leader for Resilience’s Ohio facilities, said the project will open up jobs for both hourly and salaried workers.
“So some of them will be folks that are going to be running these highly automated lines,” Matson said. “So, running a filling line, running a device assembly line or a packaging line where you're building those devices.”
Matson added there will also be roles in leadership, supply chain quality and engineering.
Resilience took over AstraZeneca’s 580,000 square-foot campus in West Chester in 2022, shortly after its founding in 2020. Resilience and Lilly first partnered in 2023 and have produced more than 150 million doses of medicine, in both vials and pre-filled syringes, since then, according to a press release.
In addition to its West Chester campus, Resilience moved its headquarters from San Diego to nearby Blue Ash in June. It also owns manufacturing facilities in Toronto and Philadelphia.
In recent years, Resilience has partnered with JobsOhio, REDI Cincinnati and Ohio Life Sciences to create a pipeline of high-skilled manufacturing talent.
Those partnerships will continue as Resilience expands its manufacturing, said Tyler Allchin, who leads the healthcare and life sciences sector of JobsOhio.
“This is a major milestone for the state of Ohio as we emerge as a powerhouse in biomanufacturing,” Allchin said.
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