New commitment brings company’s total LEAP plans to over $13 billion to support current and future pipeline of medicines

INDIANAPOLIS –  Governor Eric J. Holcomb joined Eli Lilly and Company (NYSE: LLY) Chair and CEO David A. Ricks to announce Lilly’s plans to increase its investment at the LEAP Research and Innovation District in Lebanon. The new $4.5 billion expansion brings Lilly’s total LEAP investment to more than $13 billion and will enable Lilly to significantly increase its internal capacity to produce more innovative and next-generation therapies for clinical trials.

“Lilly’s continued investment in Indiana solidifies our state’s role as a hub for cutting-edge science and technology,” said Indiana Governor Eric J. Holcomb. “For nearly 150 years, Lilly has been committed to growing its roots and reach in Indiana, cultivating local talent, and driving scientific advancements that benefit patients around the world. I couldn’t be more excited about the opportunities the Lilly Medicine Foundry will bring to communities throughout our great state.”

The expansion includes the establishment of the Lilly Medicine Foundry (LMF) at the LEAP Research and Innovation District. This facility will be a new center for drug development and advanced manufacturing and will allow Lilly to develop and efficiently manufacture a wide range of molecular therapies, including small molecules, biologics and nucleic acid therapies.

“As we accelerate our work to discover new medicines for the toughest diseases, we’re continuing to invest in stateside infrastructure to support our growing pipeline,” said David A. Ricks, Lilly’s chair and CEO. “In addition to supplying high-quality materials for our clinical studies, this new complex will further strengthen our process development and scale up our manufacturing capabilities to speed delivery of next-generation medicines to patients around the world.”

Since 2020, Lilly has committed more than $20 billion to build, expand and acquire manufacturing facilities in the U.S. and Europe. In May 2022, Lilly first announced its plans to invest $2.1 billion and create up to 500 new jobs at LEAP. At the company’s Lebanon groundbreaking in April 2023, Lilly announced an additional $1.6 billion investment and 200 new jobs at the site. During the 2024 Indiana Global Economic Summit, Lilly announced an additional $5.3 billion expansion and 200 more jobs. Once completed, LMF is expected to add an additional 400 full-time jobs.

 STATEHOUSE (Oct. 1, 2024) – The Indiana Behavioral Health Commission released their final report and recommendations for year and State Rep. Cindy Ledbetter (R-Newburgh) said she’s supportive of several of the group’s legislative recommendations.

Ledbetter, a member of the commission, joined other legislators at the Statehouse on Tuesday to discuss the IBHC’s findings in their report and recommendations for the upcoming legislative session starting in January. The commission analyzed many topics including workforce issues, mental health contracts, mental health care in young and elderly Hoosiers, and improving accessibility of behavioral and mental health care.

“The Indiana Behavioral Health Commission has studied a variety of challenging topics throughout the year,” Ledbetter said. “Many of these topics are greatly complex and do not have a simple answer. I commend the commission for diligently study these issues and their robust discussion throughout.”

Ledbetter, who is a psychiatric nurse practitioner, said many workforce issues were discussed by the commission such as ending collaborative practice agreements between Advanced Practice Registered Nurses and physicians. Collaborative agreements are a general provision of medical care where physicians are required to review five percent of the documentation of care provided by other advanced professionals such as APRNs.

“Ending collaborative agreements between APRNs and physicians is important as the system in place is not a real-time review of health care work as one would think,” Ledbetter said. “Often, physicians review patient charts months after care is provided. These agreements are also fees that are paid to physicians by APRNs, which usually end up being costs passed down to patients.”

The report also recommends improving mental health affordability by reducing the disparity gap between private medical insurance provider reimbursements to those of Medicare such as co-pays, administrative burden and out-of-network charges.

The commission also recommended expanding the multisystemic therapy system for adolescents with severe mental health needs to reduce risk of incarceration and residential treatment. This therapy provides individualized and intensive, in-home treatment through a licensed therapist and other monitoring measures. Additionally, the commission wants to improve the accessibility of behavioral health care and the mental health of Hoosiers with intellectual and developmental disabilities.

Ledbetter said she looks forward to discussing these recommendations and findings with her colleagues during the 2025 session.

Attorney General Todd Rokita co-leads national coalition against FCC inmate rules that could dismantle countless local police investigations

Attorney General Todd Rokita is co-leading a 14-state lawsuit against the Federal Communications Commission’s (FCC’s) new rule that could limit phone calls for inmates and prevent local police from performing one of their most basic functions — investigating and preventing crimes by surveilling inmate calls.

By capping the cost for inmates far below any reasonable level, the FCC will impose new costs on taxpayers and deprive state and local authorities of many safety benefits that come from allowing inmates access to audio and video calls. The FCC’s new rule would likely force some jails to eliminate such services altogether — directly undermining the goal of expanding inmate access to calls that the FCC claims it is pursuing.

“Federal bureaucrats at the FCC are trying to dictate to our local sheriffs and state prison administrators how to manage their prison facilities,” Attorney General Rokita said. “Their unlawful tampering runs a very real risk of making our jails and therefore our communities less safe. That’s why we’re stepping forward to protect the interests of sheriffs, correctional officers, the Indiana Department of Correction and all Hoosiers to challenge this rule and defend common sense.”

Attorney General Rokita’s multistate challenge seeks the reversal of unlawful regulations that, among other things, impermissibly intrude into how state and local prisons and jails provide communication services to inmates. The feds’ new inmate phone call rules threaten to dismantle the monitoring of inmate communications — a valuable investigative tool available to local law enforcement.

Granting inmates’ access to communication services — which include both calls and other online services accessible by tablets, such as legal resources and religious materials — helps reduce violence and other disruptive behavior in inmate populations. By monitoring inmate calls, facilities are also able to identify suicide risks and criminal activity and gather information that can help solve crimes. Providing communication services for inmates has become a vital tool that state and local authorities rely on to keep inmates and the public safe.

By issuing this rule, the FCC has far exceeded its statutory authority to regulate inmate communication services and ignored important safety and economic considerations that should have guided the agency’s decision making.

Attorney General Rokita is co-leading this lawsuit with Arkansas Attorney General Tim Griffin. The 14 states will detail their arguments upon filing their opening brief later this year.