Novo Nordisk to invest $2.3 billion in French facility to address GLP-1 drug shortage

Manufacturing for the diabetes and weight-loss drugs Ozempic and Wegovy is expected to increase with a billion-dollar investment Novo Nordisk production site located in Chartres, France.

A growing supply crisis of semaglutide drug products has European healthcare systems worried. The off-label use of Ozempic as an obesity treatment. Ozempic in particular has faced supply shortages in Europe because of its popularity in weight-loss treatment, while Wegovy is not yet widely available in Europe. Some nations are considering bans on off-label prescriptions for Ozempic; Germany has considered banning exports of the drug, while Belgium banned non-diabetes related prescriptions of Ozempic. Novo Nordisk itself has introduced rations for Ozempic starter kits in response to increased demand for weight-loss treatments. Earlier in November 2023, Novo Nordisk announced an increase in investment to $6 billion for production within Denmark.  

Estimate analysis of the obesity drug market shows a potential worth of $100 billion by 2030. The investment into the French manufacturing plant will also serve as a boost for France’s economy as it faces a global economic slowdown. During the ‘Choose France’ summit earlier in the year, the office of French President Emmanuel Macron announced they had convinced Novo Nordisk CEO Lars Fruergaard Jorgensen to invest in the French manufacturing site. However, Novo Nordisk has yet to comment on this. 

The investment will significantly increase the several types of manufacturing required for the production of GLP-1 drug class, with specialist operations for the filling of injection pens with the API semaglutide. Assembly and packaging operations of the injection pens will also be increased.  

Source: Novo Nordisk invests $2.3 billion in France to boost obesity drug production [Accessed November 29, 2023] https://www.reuters.com/business/healthcare-pharmaceuticals/novo-nordisk-invests-23-mln-france-boost-output-2023-11-23/