Novo Nordisk invests €2.1bn in Hillerød manufacturing expansion
Posted: 12 June 2023 | Caroline Peachey (European Pharmaceutical Review) | No comments yet
Danish pharmaceutical company Novo Nordisk plans to invest € 2.1bn to expand its production facility north of Copenhagen.
Aerial photo of Novo Nordisk's plant in Hillerød, Denmark (Credit: Novo Nordisk)
Novo Nordisk intends to invest 15.9 billion Danish kroner (€2.1 billion) to expand an existing active pharmaceutical ingredient (API) production facility in Hillerød, Denmark.
The investment, which begins in 2023, will create additional production capacity and increase Novo Nordisk’s ability to meet future market demands.
“This important investment will ensure the continuous development of our late-phase pipeline into deliveries of important medicines for treatments to patients worldwide,” stated Henrik Wulff, executive vice president of Product Supply, Quality & IT at Novo Nordisk.
The new 65,000-square-metre facility in Hillerød will be designed as a multi-product facility, with flexibility to accommodate new processes. It will integrate state-of-the-art technology and will be built to deliver products in an “efficient and environmentally sustainable way,” Novo Nordisk said in a statement.
The future facility in Hillerød will reduce water consumption by more than 40 percent and energy consumption by more than one third”
Sustainability objectives will be achieved by designing optimal and compact process flows allowing a substantial reduction of water and energy consumption. Novo Nordisk explained that, according to internal calculations, production in the future facility in Hillerød will reduce water consumption by more than 40 percent and energy consumption by more than one third, compared to similar API processes in other facilities.
Construction of the new manufacturing plant is already underway. The facility is expected to start producing API by early 2029.
The new facility in Hillerød is expected to create 340 new jobs when construction is completed, and the facility is fully equipped.
“The investment confirms Hillerød and Denmark as cornerstones in our global footprint,” added Wulff. “I would like to take this opportunity to thank the Danish Government and Parliament for their continued focus on ensuring good and stable infrastructure and supplies – allowing us to continue to expand our production capacity to the benefit of patients living with serious chronic diseases.”
In 2023, Novo Nordisk marked its centennial (the 100th anniversary of its founding in Denmark). The company currently employs some 21,000-plus employees – around half of the company’s global workforce – in Denmark.
