Novo Nordisk has earmarked a 15.9 billion Danish kroner ($2.3 billion) investment to expand manufacturing at its site in Hillerod, Denmark, the company revealed Monday. But it’s not what you might think.
While Novo is dealing with overwhelming demand for its diabetes and obesity products Ozempic and Wegovy, this funding will expand its ability to manufacture active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs) to “develop its future clinical late-phase product portfolio,” the company said.
Novo is constructing a new 700,000-square-foot, multi-product facility at its complex in Hillerod, which is set to produce APIs by 2029. It will employ 340, adding to the 100-year-old company’s presence in its home country. Novo employs 21,000-plus in Denmark, making up roughly half of its global head count.
“The investment announced today confirms Hillerod and Denmark as cornerstones of our global footprint,” Henrik Wulff, Novo’s executive vice president of product supply, quality and IT, said in a release.
In November of last year, Novo said it planned to spend 5.4 billion Danish kroner ($749 million) to boost API production for clinical trials at its site in Bagsvaerd, Denmark.
Novo also manufactures APIs in New Hampshire and at its sprawling complex in Clayton, North Carolina, which employs 1,700 after constructing a second plant at the site. That $2 billion project was complete in 2021. Earlier this year, the company spent $6.8 million to secure 104 additional acres adjacent to the facility.
This expansion comes as Novo navigates the launch of popular obesity drug Wegovy. Amid overwhelming demand, the company recently said it would throttle starter doses of the drug in the U.S. and pause marketing for the medicine.
Novo's Wegovy uses the same active ingredient as its diabetes drug Ozempic, which is a popular diabetes drug in its own right. In a note to clients earlier this year, analysts with ODDO BHF said they expected Wegovy and Ozempic would generate $4.2 billion and $11.1 billion in 2023, respectively.