(News Bulletin 247) – The pharmaceutical group will invest more than 2 billion euros in its factory in Chartres, with a view to meeting ever-increasing demand for its anti-obesity and anti-diabetic treatments.

Novo Nordisk will break the bank to meet growing demand for its treatments against diabetes and obesity. The Danish giant announced this Thursday an investment of 2.1 billion euros to expand its French production site in Chartres, where it has been installed since 1961.

Novo Nordisk intends to “develop its current production” and “welcome the production of future therapeutic solutions in serious chronic diseases such as obesity”.

It must be said that these treatments have supported the results of the Danish group and are indicative of the growing success of its anti-diabetic and anti-obesity treatments, Ozempic and Wegovy. Novo Nordisk claims 54.3% of the market (in value) for treatments analogous to GLP-1, an intestinal hormone which secretes insulin.

Strong demand for Ozempic and Wegovy

Over nine months, sales of Ozempic, Novo Nordisk’s injectable diabetic treatment, jumped 58% excluding currency effects, driven by strong popularity on the networks for its weight-loss property, although not for medical indications. As for those of Wegovy, its anti-obesity treatment, they soared by 492% excluding the impact of currencies over the period.

Remember that if Novo Nordisk’s Ozempic only has an indication in type 2 diabetes, the other drug with semaglutide, Wegovy, has been approved since 2021 in the United States (and since 2022 in the European Union ) for the treatment of obesity, in addition to type 2 diabetes.

First European capitalization

The success of these treatments has also boosted Novo Nordisk’s stock price, which has gained 50% since the start of the year, including 30% since August. The Danish group was then propelled onto the Copenhagen Stock Exchange by positive clinical data for Wegovy, its treatment for obesity, which reduced the risk of heart disease by 20%.

And in September, it was the consecration for Novo Nordisk which managed to dislodge the luxury giant LVMH from its place as the largest European market capitalization.

According to data from companiesmarketcap.com, the Danish group is well established on its throne, with a market capitalization currently of 460 billion dollars compared to 389 billion dollars for the world number one in luxury, which for its part has lost 20% since its creation. July peak.

LVMH is facing weakening demand in the United States and Europe, where rising prices have led to a slowdown in the spending trend seen since the end of the coronavirus pandemic, while the recovery in China has been sluggish.

The stock market weight of the Nordic group is now greater than the combined value of all other companies in the Danish benchmark index, the OMXC25, Bloomberg recalled at the beginning of August. Better yet, its market capitalization, 2,984 billion crowns (more than 400 billion euros), exceeds Denmark’s GDP, which amounted to 2,832 billion crowns last year.