An Eli Lilly and Company pharmaceutical manufacturing plant is pictured at 50 ImClone Drive in Branchburg, New Jersey, March 5, 2021. REUTERS/Mike Segar/File Photo Acquire Licensing RightsLONDON, Oct 19 (Reuters) - Eli Lilly (LLY.N) has hired Switzerland-based contract drugmaker CordenPharma to produce the active ingredient in its diabetes drug Mounjaro, a source familiar with the matter told Reuters on Thursday. Lilly has said it expects U.S. approval for Mounjaro for weight loss by the end of the year. The source told Reuters that CordenPharma's factory in Colorado is under contract to make tirzepatide, the active ingredient in the weekly injection. Analysts estimate the obesity market could be worth as much as $100 billion in the next decade.

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Persons: Eli Lilly, Mike Segar, drugmaker, CordenPharma, Lilly, Corden, Maggie Fick, Josephine Mason, Bill Berkrot Organizations: Company, REUTERS, Reuters, CordenPharma, Novo Nordisk, Mounjaro, Thomson Locations: Branchburg , New Jersey, Switzerland, United States, Colorado, Basel, Europe, Boulder , Colorado, Boulder