Pharma
Novo Nordisk, the maker of the popular obesity drugs Ozempic and Wegovy, has acquired a Brussels factory that fills medical injection pens. This is a branch in the Brussels periphery.
The acquisition is part of an agreement in which the Danish investment company Novo Holdings, which is the largest shareholder of Novo Nordisk, will acquire the American pharmaceutical group Catalent. The acquisition is worth 16.5 billion dollars (15.3 billion euros).
When the deal is completed, Denmark’s Novo Nordisk will acquire a total of three factories. It will pay 11 billion dollars (10.2 billion euros) for this. In addition to the factory in Brussels, there are similar locations in Italy (Anagni) and the United States (Bloomington). Injection pens are already being filled at the Brussels branch on behalf of Novo Nordisk.
Thanks to the three factories, which together employ more than 3,000 people, “we will be able to help significantly more people with diabetes and obesity in the future,” Novo Nordisk CEO Lars Fruergaard Jorgensen said in a press release.
The company needs additional production capacity. Its obesity drugs are so popular worldwide that it cannot keep up with demand. (belga)
