Eli Lilly plans to close three of its European facilities, including R&D sites at Hamburg in Germany and Mont-Saint-Guibert in Belgium and a manufacturing site in Basingstoke in the UK. This will result in the loss of most of the 900 jobs at the sites.

“Following a strategic review of operations, these proposals are based on the increasingly challenging global pharmaceutical environment as well as Lilly’s current and future business needs. Also, consultations with employee representatives would take place at each affected site and noted that a final decision has not yet been made,” according to a company statement.

The company plans to close the basic research facility in Hamburg, Germany by the end of June 2007, which will affect around 150 jobs. According to the company, the research unit, which works mainly on diabetes projects, is too small to exist independently in the long term and that it expects that other locations, primarily in the U.S., would take over its activities.

Lilly plans to invest approximately $50 million in its German headquarters in Bad Homburg near Frankfurt and clinical research will continue there. The company also has plans to invest $12.6 million to expand its distribution center in Giessen, according to a company statement.