Novo Nordisk parent buys US drug firm for $16.5bn to expand Wegovy supply

The explosion in demand for the weight loss drug Wegovy has led to the holding company behind its maker, Novo Nordisk, buying a leading US-based drugmaker for $16.5bn ($12.70) to capacity.

Novo Holdings is to buy the New Jersey-based pharmaceutical firm Catalent, and then immediately sell three of its sites for $11bn in US and Europe to Wegovy Novo Nordisk, which will increase its ability to match supply with increasing demand.

The deal comes as the popularity of Wegovy and Ozempic, Novo Nordisk’s diabetes drug, continues to grow, helping to cement the Danish drugmaker as Europe’s most valuable company, with a market value of about $500bn.

Novo’s boom has been largely driven by the popularity of the drugs, which are used by celebrities including Elon Musk and Oprah Winfrey and are increasingly being used in public health. Obesity drug sales at Novo Nordisk jumped by 154% up to £4.8bn last year, with Wegovy accounting for £3.6bn of that.

However, this boom in demand has led to supply problem, with Novo Nordisk having to limit the number of Wegovy starter doses it would issue last May, as demand outpaced the company’s manufacturing capacity.

The Novo Holdings chief executive, Kasim Kutay, said in an interview with Reuters: “A key strategic consideration for Novo Nordisk, particularly when thinking about patients and making sure there is broader rollout for Ozempic and Wegovy, is enhanced capacity.”

Novo Holdings owns just over 28% of economic shares in Novo Nordisk, and 77% of its voting shares.

Lars Fruergaard Jørgensen, the president and chief executive officer at Novo Nordisk, said: “We are very pleased with the agreement to acquire the three Catalent manufacturing sites which will enable us to serve significantly more people living with diabetes and obesity in the future.”

The deal between Novo Nordisk and its parent company will see it pay $11bn for the fill-finish sites in Anagni (Italy), Brussels (Belgium) and Bloomington (Indiana, US).

The two drugs have proved popular in the US, particularly Wegovy, with Novo Nordisk estimating that 1 million Americans have used the drug since it was approved in 2021, and 600,000 are currently using it.

The drugs are injected into the body once a week and mimic the action of a gut hormone, GLP-1, by suppressing appetite and slowing the movement of food through the digestive system.

They have helped many people lose significant amounts of weight but can cause side effects ranging from nausea, bloating, diarrhoea and fatigue to more serious stomach, kidney and gallbladder problems and inflammation of the pancreas.

The NHS rolled out the use of Wegovy for the first time last September in what it called a “controlled and limited launch”.

Those eligible should have a body mass index (BMI) of more than 30 and at least one weight-related co-morbidity, and is administered by specialist NHS weight management services alongside a reduced calorie diet and exercise.