(Yicai) Oct. 14 -- Eli Lilly said the Chinese unit of the US multinational pharmaceutical company will invest CNY1.5 billion (USD212 million) to expand the capacities in its factory in China's Suzhou.

The funds will be used to boost the plant's production capacity of innovative drugs for type 2 diabetes and obesity to meet Chinese patients' needs and support the future production of pipeline products, Eli Lilly announced on Oct. 11.

The factory will manage European market exports and provide drugs in the domestic market after the expansion, the subsidiary noted, without disclosing further details.

The capital increase plan will further speed up Eli Lilly's global capacity expansion strategy and ensure patients' drug provisions are sustained and stable, according to the Indiana-based company.

The Suzhou plant investment is a key part of Eli Lilly's largest global capacity upgrading plan ever, the firm said. In May, the company increased the investment in its new factory in Indiana to USD9 billion to promote the production of its weight-loss drug Tirzepatide and other pipeline drugs' active pharmaceutical ingredient production. It also owns weight-loss drug production facilities in Germany, Ireland, and others.

The production of APIs is crucial for weight-loss drugs and Eli Lilly was producing such ingredients in China before it sold some equipment, a person familiar with the matter told Yicai.

China's National Medical Products Administration approved Tirzepatide as a long-term weight management indication in July, making it the second glucagon-like peptide-1 receptor agonist weight-loss drug approved in the country.

The date when Tirzepatide will launch commercial sales in China remains to be determined, Eli Lilly said to Yicai.

Novo Nordisk's Ozempic received China's approval as a weight-loss indication earlier than Tirzepatide, but it also has not started commercial sales.

Editors: Shi Yi, Martin Kadiev