COPENHAGEN (dpa-AFX) - Danish drug maker Novo Nordisk announced its plans to
invest $4.1 billion or about 27 billion Danish kroner to build a new
manufacturing plant in Clayton, North Carolina with a view to expanding its
manufacturing capacity in the United States.

In the new plant, the company plans to produce current and future injectable
treatments for people with obesity and other serious chronic diseases. These
mainly include weight loss drug Wegovy and diabetes treatment Ozempic, among
others. As per reports, demand for Wegovy and Ozempic have grown siginificantly
over supply in the country, resulting in shortages and forcing the drug maker to
expand its manufacturing capacities.

In 2024, Novo Nordisk further plans to boost its current investments and to
allocate $6.8 billion or 45 billion kroner towards production to increase
supply, significantly higher than previous year's investment of $3.9 billion or
26 billion kroner.

The second fill and finishing manufacturing facility is expected to add 1,000
new jobs, in addition to the nearly 2,500 Novo Nordisk employees already working
in the region.

The company said it has already started early clearing and foundational work to
prepare the 56-acre facility footprint. Construction will gradually be finalized
between 2027 and 2029. Around 2,000 external contractors will be engaged at the
height of the project.

The latest manufacturing investment, marked to be one of the largest in Novo
Nordisk's history, will add 1.4 million square feet of production space for
aseptic manufacturing and finished production processes. It will double the
combined square footage of all three of the company's existing facilities in
North Carolina.

Further, Butch Lawter, Chair of the Johnston County Board of Commissioners,
announced county grants to further support the expansion project.

Clayton was the first manufacturing site for Novo Nordisk in the US. Novo
Nordisk had build its first facility in the region 31 years ago, and in 2016, it
announced a new facility.

Lars Fruergaard Jørgensen, president and CEO of Novo Nordisk, said, '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.'

The new facility expects to obtain LEED Gold certification by utilising
state-of-the-art technology, roof-top solar panels and innovative water
strategies.

The news comes as Novo Nordisk CEO Lars Fruergaard Jorgensen reportedly agreed
last week to testify before the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions
Committee, chaired by Senator Bernie Sanders, to defend the high prices of
Wegovy and Ozempic. A Wegovy prescription costs around $1,349 per month in the
U.S., whereas the same costs $140 in Germany and $92 in the U.K., according to
Fortune.

While responding to a letter by Sanders in May regarding costs, the drug maker
argued that the U.S. health care system was the reason behind the high prices as
a substantial part of its revenue goes to middlemen in the U.S. compared to
Europe, Bloomberg reported.



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