INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. (Nov. 2, 2015) – Eli Lilly and Company announced plans Monday to expand its research and development headquarters in Indianapolis.

The company plans to build a $70 million facility that will add 130,000 square feet to the drug maker’s existing complex. It will include a laboratory that will allow employees in different departments to collaborate on their research. The company expects construction to wrap up by 2017.

The laboratory will focus on small molecules—treatments that are typically taken orally—and allow chemists, engineers and scientists to work side-by-side.

“We are excited to grow our presence in Indianapolis, which is home to our largest global R&D facility and where our research efforts began,” said Jan Lundberg, Ph.D., executive vice president of science and technology and president of Lilly Research Laboratories. “Evolving our laboratories will position Lilly and its Indianapolis-based scientists to more efficiently discover and develop new treatments that will make life better.”

In 2013, Lilly expanded its Indianapolis footprint with a $400 million project designed to increase its insulin manufacturing capacity.

Lilly has announced three other strategic research and development expansions this year in Cambridge, Mass., San Diego, Calif., and New York.