Novo Nordisk’s market worth exceeds that of Denmark as a whole, and its shares have increased by 84% over the last year due to the business’s drug success
The weight loss drug industry is booming and Novo Nordisk, the Danish multinational pharmaceutical company, is struggling to meet the increasing demand for its diabetic and obesity medications, Ozempic and Wegovy. In order to find a solution, the company is planning to invest over $4 billion (£3.2 billion) in US production.
The $4.1 billion investment will be the largest manufacturing expenditure in its history, to construct a second filling and finishing facility in Clayton, North Carolina. The weight loss drugs produced are injected by the users once a week through pre-filled pens with medications.
The new building which has solar panels on the roof, would increase the area of Novo Nordisk’s three current locations in North Carolina. The project will also bring in many job opportunities in addition to the company’s current workforce of about 2,500 workers in the state.
“It took us a century to reach 40 million patients, but through this expansion and continued investment in our global production, we’re building Novo Nordisk’s ability to serve millions more people living with serious chronic diseases in the future,” stated Lars Fruergaard Jørgensen, president and chief executive of the company.
This is just one more concrete indication of our efforts to increase manufacturing in order to fulfill the increasing demand for our game-changing medications among patients worldwide and future generations.
In order to boost the supply of its injectable medications, Novo Nordisk is to invest $6.8 billion in production this year, up from $3.9 billion the previous year. A global obesity issue has led to a surge in demand for Wegovy and Ozempic, to the point where the business had to restrict their use due to shortages.
Celebrities like Elon Musk and Oprah Winfrey have promoted the medications, although some, like American comedian Amy Schumer, have stated that they discontinued using Ozempic due to negative effects.
Novo Nordisk’s market worth exceeds that of Denmark as a whole, and its shares have increased by 84% over the last year due to the business’s drug success. This makes Novo Nordisk the most valuable corporation in Europe.
“Clayton was the first manufacturing site for Novo Nordisk in the US, and this new large-scale investment confirms the continued importance of our production facilities there as cornerstones of our company’s growth,” stated Henrik Wulff, executive vice-president for product supply, quality, and IT at the company.
Wegovy and Ozempic belong to a novel class of diabetic and weight-loss medications called GLP-1, which decrease hunger by acting like a gut hormone. Although they can have unpleasant side effects like nausea, they have assisted some people in losing a large amount of weight.
Last month, Novo Nordisk and its main rival, US pharmaceutical company Eli Lilly, increased their sales projections. At the beginning of this month, the medical regulator approved tirzepatide, a diabetes medicine manufactured by Eli Lilly and marketed under the brand name Mounjaro, for obesity. This allows physicians and patients to choose a more effective treatment than semaglutide, also known as Wegovy.