Novo Nordisk Invests $1.09 Billion in Brazil

Novo Nordisk has invested 6.4 billion Brazilian reais ($1.09 billion, €0.99 billion) to expand its facility in Brazil as the company ramps up efforts to increase production of its flagship glucagon-like peptide 1 receptor agonist (GLP-1RA) products.

Novo Nordisk's significant investment will upgrade its Montes Claros facility in Southeastern Brazil, already the largest insulin factory in Latin America, with new aseptic production processes, a warehouse, and a quality control laboratory. The expanded facility will produce various products, including GLP-1RAs, and create 600 new jobs, adding to the 2,000 staff already employed in Brazil. Construction has begun, with operations expected to start in 2028.

“With this expansion of the Montes Claros site, we are strengthening our global production capacity, which will enable us to meet both current and future demand for innovative medicines worldwide,” said Novo Nordisk’s executive vice president of chemistry, production, control & product supply, Henrik Wulff.

Novo Nordisk has not disclosed sales figures for its type 2 diabetes medication Ozempic (semaglutide) and weight loss drug Wegovy (semaglutide) in Brazil, despite the country being one of its top five markets, according to Lars Fruergaard Jorgensen's comments reported by Reuters. The company's manufacturing expansion comes as Hypera, Brazil's largest pharmaceutical company by market cap, plans to launch a generic version of Ozempic when its patent expires in 2026.