Overview of Novo Nordisk’s latest investments
Novo Nordisk has announced a US$1.2 billion investment in a new factory in Denmark. The pharmaceutical company plans to produce drugs for the treatment of rare diseases, including haemophilia. Construction will begin at the end of 2024 and be completed by 2027. The plant will create around 400 jobs.
In other news, the pharmaceutical giant has approved a deal with Catalent. The terms of the agreement are as follows:
– Novo’s parent company will acquire US drugmaker Catalent for US$16.5 billion;
– Novo will then buy three manufacturing facilities from the company for US$11 billion.
The deal will involve debt financing, which will temporarily hit Novo Nordisk’s operating profit. However, the company is prepared for these costs and has no plans to launch a share buyback programme.
The company’s other investments
Novo Nordisk continues to actively expand its production sites, choosing locations in different regions of the world. In the summer of 2023, for example, the company invested US$2.3 billion to build a plant in Hillerød in the US. The facility is due to start producing medicines and active pharmaceutical ingredients in 2029.
In June 2024, the company invested more than US$4 billion to expand production in North Carolina. NN will build a second plant there to produce the popular medicines Ozempic and Wegovy.
Novo Nordisk has also reached an agreement with Novavax to buy a plant in the Czech Republic. The Danish company is purchasing the production facilities and employees, enabling the new facility to start production as quickly as possible. The deal is worth US$200 million. Novavax has already received US$190 million in cash. The remaining US$10 million will be paid to the seller in 2025.
Alhemo drug approval
The FDA approved Novo Nordisk’s new haemophilia drug, Alhemo, at the end of 2024. This was the company’s third licence-granting product in recent years. Doctors use the drug prophylactically to reduce the risk of bleeding and help reduce the number of bleeding episodes in children and adults with haemophilia.
It is worth noting that the US Food and Drug Administration has not approved the use of the drug for a long time. In 2020, the FDA suspended trials of Alhemo due to a high risk of thrombosis. After five months, the manufacturer resumed research, but it was only in 2024 that it obtained a licence. The drug has already been approved for sale in the EU, Japan, Australia, and Switzerland.
