Novo Nordisk, already lively in capital enhancements so as to add manufacturing capability to fulfill rising demand for its metabolic medicines, is now constructing infrastructure for the manufacturing of uncommon illness medicine with a brand new 8.5 billion Danish kroner (about $1.2 billion) website.
Within the Monday announcement, the Copenhagen-based pharmaceutical large mentioned the deliberate new facility marks the primary time on this century that the corporate has damaged floor for a brand new manufacturing website within the firm’s residence nation. The manufacturing facility and warehouse in Odense, Denmark, will span greater than 40,000 sq. meters (about 430,556 sq. ft). Building is already underway and is scheduled to complete in 2027. When full, the location is predicted to have 400 everlasting jobs.
“The ability will make the most of superior know-how and progressive gear to make sure the very best high quality to sufferers and meet the rising world demand for our life-changing medicines,” Henrik Wulff, Novo Nordisk government vice chairman, product provide, high quality & IT, mentioned in a ready assertion.
Novo Nordisk mentioned the brand new manufacturing facility is designed to be modular and versatile, enabling it to accommodate a number of kinds of medicine inside uncommon illness each now and sooner or later. On the BIO Convention this previous June, John McDonald, Novo Nordisk’s world head of enterprise growth and M&A, mentioned the corporate’s uncommon illness focus consists of blood problems corresponding to sickle cell illness and hemophilias.
Novo Nordisk’s hemophilia portfolio consists of engineered variations of clotting proteins that sufferers lack. The corporate has additionally developed concizumab, an antibody drug designed to bind to TFPI, stopping that protein from blocking issue Xa, a special protein that performs a job in blood clotting. The FDA turned down Novo Nordisk’s software for the drug final 12 months, asking for extra data. However concizumab has gained regulatory approval for treating each hemophilia A and hemophilia B in Canada, the place it’s marketed as Alhemo. The drug additionally lately acquired a suggestion for approval from a European Medicines Company committee.
Novo Nordisk’s latest manufacturing efforts have targeted on metabolic medicines, particularly the GLP-1 agonists Ozempic and Wegovy. Just a little greater than a 12 months in the past, Novo Nordisk introduced plans to speculate greater than 42 billion Danish kroner (about $6.1 billion) to broaden an present manufacturing facility in Kalundborg, Denmark. Quickly after, the corporate introduced a 16 billion Danish kroner (about $2.3 billion) funding to broaden an present manufacturing website in France.
Extra manufacturing capability is coming to Novo Nordisk in Europe and the U.S. Novo Holdings, the funding arm of the muse that holds a controlling stake in Novo Nordisk, early this 12 months struck a $16.5 billion deal to amass contract producer Catalent. In a separate however associated transaction, Novo Nordisk agreed to amass from Novo Holdings three Catalent websites. These websites in Italy, Belgium, and Indiana, already deal with filling of vials for Novo Nordisk’s GLP-1 medicine.
The Catalent transactions are on their solution to completion. In early December, the European Fee signed off on Novo Holdings’ acquisition of Catalent. That approval additionally consists of Novo Nordisk’s proposed acquisition of the three Catalent manufacturing websites. The fee concluded that following the merger, prospects of pre-filled syringes and orally disintegrating tablets will proceed to have entry to different vital and credible CDMOs. Over the weekend, Novo Nordisk mentioned the necessities for U.S. regulatory evaluate of the deal have been fulfilled. The corporate mentioned it expects the acquisition might be full within the coming days.
Picture by Novo Nordisk