AFP – Danish pharmaceutical giant Novo Nordisk, maker of diabetes and weight-loss treatments Ozempic and Wegovy, said yesterday it was investing USD1.2 billion to build a new factory in Denmark to produce drugs against rare diseases.
The 40,000-square-metre production facility and warehouse in Odense “marks the first time in this century that Novo Nordisk breaks ground in Denmark by establishing a new production site,” the company said in a statement.
“Designed to be modular and flexible, it will accommodate multiple product types within rare disease, such as haemophilia, both now and in the future,” Novo Nordisk said. Executive vice president at Novo Nordisk Henrik Wulff said the facility would help the company “meet the growing global demand for our life-changing medicines”. In November, the drugmaker posted a 21-per-cent rise in net profit to USD3.85 billion for the July-to-September period, but lamented capacity limitations at its production sites.
Novo Nordisk said that construction work on the Odense site had commenced and it is scheduled to be completed in 2027.
It is expected to create 400 jobs once completed.
Sales of Wegovy, which has been approved for use to treat obesity in Britain, Denmark, France, Germany, Norway and the United States, rose by 42 per cent in the first nine months of the year, according to Novo Nordisk.
