Lilly to halve planned €2.3 billion investment in Germany, CEO tells newspaper

BERLIN, June 3 (Reuters) - Eli Lilly will halve its originally planned investment of €2.3 billion ($2.67 billion) in Germany, CEO Dave Ricks told the Handelsblatt business daily.

Over a billion euros has already been invested in the production site for weight-loss injections in Alzey in the western state of Rhineland-Palatinate, the German business daily reported on Wednesday.

The high-tech plant is still scheduled to begin operations in 2027, albeit at reduced capacity and with half of the planned 1,000 jobs, the report added.

Ricks said the scrapped investment sum for Germany would go to Pennsylvania in the U.S. or a completely new site.

"Europe isn't completely off the table, but the U.S. makes the most sense," he said.

The decision follows proposed legislation in Germany to cap rapidly growing costs in the statutory health ​insurance system.

($1 = 0.8618 euros)

(Reporting by Rachel More; Editing by Emelia Sithole-Matarise)