B1Plants
Novo Nordisk commits DKK 42 billion to new production at Kalundborg
About $6 billion goes into the harbour town where Novo already makes much of its ingredient. The plan covers several new buildings.
Dateline
Kalundborg
Novo Nordisk site, Kalundborg (2013) Photo: Johan Wessman / News Oresund, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons (cropped)
In one lineNovo's oldest large ingredient hub gets its biggest single expansion yet.
What was announced
Novo Nordisk said it would invest DKK 42 billion, about $6 billion, in new manufacturing facilities in Kalundborg, on the west coast of Zealand in Denmark.
What the money covers
The plan included several buildings for active ingredient, aseptic filling and finished products. Novo said construction would run in steps, with completion expected between 2027 and 2029.
Why Kalundborg
The town is home to some of Novo's largest ingredient plants, which grow peptides in yeast and purify them. An industrial park there shares energy, water and waste streams between companies, which lowers some running costs.
Who works there
Novo said the expansion would add about 1,250 permanent jobs once complete, on top of thousands of construction workers during the build.
The caveat
Novo named the plants for future products, not for semaglutide by name. Exact capacity was not made public.
What it changes for supply
Kalundborg makes a large share of Novo's peptide ingredient. Adding buildings there grows the upstream end of the supply chain, not only pen output.
Still open
Which future molecules the plants are sized for; Novo described them only as "future products".
SourceNovo Nordisk company announcement, June 2024
Peptide Global covers how medicines are made and traded. Nothing here is medical advice.
