Novo Nordisk to construct $4.1 billion North Carolina facility to spice up output of Wegovy, Ozempic

Novo Nordisk on Monday mentioned it is going to spend $4.1 billion to construct a brand new manufacturing plant in Clayton, North Carolina, in a bid to boost the supply of its blockbuster weight reduction drug Wegovy, diabetes therapy Ozempic and different injectable therapies. 

Demand for Wegovy and Ozempic has outstripped provide during the last 12 months, spurring intermittent shortages within the U.S. and forcing the Danish drugmaker to take a position closely to extend its manufacturing footprint. The corporate mentioned it plans to take a position $6.8 billion in manufacturing this 12 months, up from roughly $4 billion final 12 months. 

The brand new manufacturing facility will probably be liable for filling and packaging syringes and injection pens for the medicine, in accordance with an organization launch. 

“This funding actually offers us the chance to serve extra sufferers,” Doug Langa, Novo Nordisk’s head of North American operations, mentioned in an interview. “Importantly, I feel the opposite key message right here is it is additional funding within the U.S., so I feel we’re very happy with that.”

Development of the 1.4 million-square-foot facility has begun and is predicted to be accomplished between 2027 and 2029, Novo Nordisk mentioned. The corporate mentioned 1,000 employees will employees the location, including to the two,500 workers already working at its three existing manufacturing plants in North Carolina. 

That features two sites that are already operational in Clayton — one liable for fill and end work and one other devoted to producing the energetic ingredient within the firm’s diabetes tablet Rybelsus. The corporate additionally has a website in Durham, North Carolina, liable for manufacturing and packaging oral medicine and one other facility in West Lebanon, New Hampshire.

Twelve different manufacturing websites are situated in Denmark, France, China, Japan, Algeria, Brazil, Iran and Russia, in accordance with a Novo Nordisk spokesperson.

Three decrease doses of Wegovy are presently in scarcity within the U.S. resulting from excessive demand, in accordance with a Meals and Drug Administration database. Sufferers begin Wegovy with decrease doses and steadily enhance the quantity each 4 weeks till they attain a goal dosage.

Wegovy and Ozempic are a part of a category of medicines referred to as GLP-1s that mimic hormones produced within the intestine to suppress an individual’s urge for food and regulate their blood sugar.

Round 35,000 U.S. sufferers on common begin Wegovy every week right now, up from roughly 27,000 in Could, a Novo Nordisk spokesperson mentioned in an announcement. Nonetheless, Langa mentioned the corporate is being “very purposeful” about what number of decrease doses it’s releasing into the U.S. market to make sure sufferers who’ve already began taking Wegovy can proceed therapy with increased doses.

Rival drugmaker Eli Lilly has additionally dedicated billions of dollars to extend manufacturing capability for its well-liked GLP-1s for weight reduction and diabetes, Zepbound and Mounjaro. The corporate equally has a number of manufacturing crops in North Carolina. 

Correction: Novo Nordisk’s present services in Clayton, North Carolina, are liable for fill and end work and for producing the energetic ingredient within the firm’s diabetes tablet Rybelsus. A earlier model of this story misstated these features.