Novo Nordisk to boost production with a new acquisition

Danish pharma company Novo Nordisk, makers of weight-loss drugs Ozempic and Wegovy, plans to expand production based on a takeover of US health products manufacturer Catalent, in a deal worth $US11.7 billion ($A18.4 billion).

Making the announcement on Saturday following regulatory approval, Novo Nordisk said: “the parties are now free to close the transaction, as well as Novo Nordisk’s subsequent acquisition of three Catalent manufacturing sites”.

The acquisition would be largely debt-financed, it said.

The production sites are in the United States, Italy and Belgium.

“Novo Nordisk now expects the acquisition to be completed in the coming days,” it said.

While Ozempic is billed as a treatment for diabetes, it and Wegovy have seen widespread use as weight-loss drugs, boosting Novo Nordisk to one of the world’s most valuable companies.

Its production facilities have as a result been unable to cope with demand.

Novo Nordisk announced expansion plans in February.

Novo Holdings - the largest shareholder of Novo Nordisk - is to acquire Catalent, along with the three production sites that fill the medications.

Novo Nordisk will then acquire the sites from the parent company.

Catalent fills medications for a number of pharmaceutical companies and is reported to be one of the largest suppliers in the sector in the world.

Doubts about the takeover have been expressed by competitors Eli Lilly as well as by consumer organisations and trade unions.