(Bloomberg) -- Eli Lilly & Co. will build a $2.5 billion manufacturing site in Germany to help expand production capacity for injected medicines like its weight-loss shot Zepbound.

The new plant will help “diversify the growing Lilly presence in Europe,” the company said in a statement. Construction is set to begin next year and Lilly expects it to be operational in 2027. Lilly also said it will invest up to $100 million in Germany’s early-stage biotech ecosystem.

Skyrocketing demand for weight-loss shots from Lilly and rival drugmaker Novo Nordisk A/S has led to struggles to keep up. Lilly’s Mounjaro for diabetes — marketed as Zepbound in the US — gained additional approval for weight management by EU regulators earlier this month. 

Read More: Novo Plans $6 Billion Site as Lilly Pushes Into Weight-Drug Race

The company has had to limit EU sales of its best-selling diabetes drug Trulicity, another GLP-1 drug like Mounjaro and Zepbound, because of demand. Both Lilly and Novo have been investing in ramping up production of their weight-loss products, and Lilly earlier said it was on track to double capacity by the end of 2023. 

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