The "miracle weight-loss drug" is in short supply, and giants are crazy about expanding production.

On June 25,$Novo-Nordisk A/S (NVO.US)$the official website announced a plan to invest $4.1 billion to build a precision processing and manufacturing plant in Clayton, North Carolina, USA for the production expansion of diabetes drug Ozempic and weight-loss drug Wegovy.

It is reported that the new plant is mainly responsible for the final production process of filling and packaging drug injection pens and will create 1,000 new jobs. The production space is approximately 1.4 million square feet and is expected to be completed from 2027 to 2029.

The United States is the largest market for anti-obesity drugs, and GLP-1 drugs led by Wegovy and Mounjaro have been popular since they were approved for marketing. Nowadays, the situation of "difficult to obtain one shot" is still playing out, and the hundred billion market is restricted by downstream production capacity.

Earlier this year, Novo Nordisk announced plans to invest about $6.8 billion in expanding production this year, higher than the approximately $4 billion last year. In addition to building its own plant, Novo Nordisk has also invested heavily in the acquisition of three factories under the manufacturer Catalent.

Novo Nordisk's competitor, Eli Lilly and Co., has also promised to invest billions of dollars this year to increase production capacity. The company already has multiple production plants in North Carolina to meet demand for its weight-loss drug Zepbound and diabetes drug Mounjaro.

Editor/Somer