Two weeks ago, Novo Nordisk confirmed a report about its purchase of an Alkermes pill factory in Athlone, Ireland. That 85 million euro move ($92.5 million U.S.), now appears to be an appetizer for what the Danish company plans to build just 120 kilometers east, near Dublin, as it tries to meet the skyrocketing demand for its GLP-1 diabetes and weight-loss drugs Ozempic and Wegovy.
According to a planning application reviewed by the Sunday Times, Novo wants to construct a sprawling manufacturing campus that would cover 147,192 square meters (1.6 million square feet) and create up to 1,100 jobs—including 600 in production and 500 in administration.
The site would be located in the Grange Castle business park in Clondalkin, just west of the Irish capital, and would include three filling and packaging units, two assembly and packaging facilities, a warehouse, an admin building and a laboratory, according to the report.
In June of this year, Novo purchased the 85-acre tract of land for 51 million euros ($56.7 million) to construct a plant to manufacture products to treat “diabetes, obesity and rare diseases,” according to the South Dublin County Council. The agreement included an option to buy an additional 21 acres of adjacent property.
On Thursday, Novo acknowledged submitting a planning application but said that it couldn’t share specifics.
“Novo Nordisk is looking into expanding its manufacturing capacity in Europe and Ireland is one of the locations we are considering,” the company said.
Before these moves, the company never had a manufacturing presence in Ireland. According to planning documents, the new campus near Dublin would take 18 to 24 months to build, and potentially go operational in 2026. Meanwhile, the Alkermes purchase is expected to be completed in 2024.
At the plant in Athlone, which employs 400, it is expected that Novo will produce Rybelsus, approved for type 2 diabetes. In a phase 3 trial, a higher-dose version of the oral treatment showed comparable results to Ozempic and Wegovy in triggering weight loss.
Novo’s expansion into Ireland comes a month after the company revealed a 16 billion Danish kroner ($2.3 billion) investment in upgrading its manufacturing site in Chartres, France. That was on top of another November announcement by Novo that it was pouring 42 billion Danish kroner ($6 billion) into beefing up its huge manufacturing complex in Kalundborg, Denmark.
Propelled by sales of Ozempic and Wegovy, Novo has become the most valuable biopharma company in Europe, with a market cap of $356 billion. For the 12 months ending on September 30 of this year, Novo’s revenue was $30.8 billion, which was an increase of 27% year over year.