Expansion aims to boost production of enzymes essential for manufacturing Ozempic and Wegovy, medications used to treat diabetes and obesity
12/10/2024
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Danish pharmaceutical company Novo Nordisk announced on Monday (9) an additional investment of R$500 million in Brazil. The funds will be used to construct a new annex at the company’s plant in Montes Claros, Minas Gerais. The expansion aims to boost the production of enzymes essential for manufacturing Ozempic and Wegovy, medications used to treat diabetes and obesity.
With this investment, the total amount to be invested by the company in Brazil over the next two years will reach R$1.3 billion.
In October, Novo Nordisk disclosed an investment of R$864.2 million for insulin production at the same Montes Claros facility. The plant produces approximately 12% of global insulin consumption and is the sole producer of enzymes for the Danish pharmaceutical company.
- While the company did not disclose current production numbers, it expects to triple enzyme production. The investment is funded with the company’s own capital.
Construction is slated to begin in January 2025, with sanitary adjustments expected to start a year later, in January 2026. Novo Nordisk anticipates the new annex will be operational by January 2027.
Reinaldo Costa, corporate vice president of the Novo Nordisk plant, stated that the satisfactory performance indicators of the Montes Claros facility justify the investments in Brazil.
“This investment is crucial as it will allow us to triple our production capacity for enzymes enteropeptidase and ALP. All semaglutide production requires enzymes supplied by the country, and the plant is the sole enzyme supplier to Novo,” he stated.
The chemical input removes disposable parts from semaglutide, the active ingredient in Ozempic, thereby increasing the efficiency of the active pharmaceutical ingredient (API).
In 2026, the patent for Ozempic is set to expire. The company claims it is unaware of how other pharmaceutical firms will produce potential generic medications, and for this reason, there are no expectations of selling the enzymes to competitors.
“The expertise we already have here in enzyme production enabled us to attract this investment, with a very good capacity that meets Novo’s market needs. Efficiency, high productivity, and competitive costs are why this investment is being made in Brazil. We are part of a global production strategy, and the Montes Claros site is highly strategic,” Mr. Costa said.
The Montes Claros complex, inaugurated in 2007, employs 1,800 workers and generates approximately 30,000 indirect jobs throughout the production chain, according to the company. The construction of the annex is expected to create 40 direct jobs and 400 indirect jobs.
*By Matheus Oliveira
Source: Valor International