Danish drugmaker Novo Nordisk, the firm behind the highly sought-after diabetes treatment Ozempic and obesity treatment Wegovy, will spend $4.1bn on a new factory in North Carolina.
The 1.4 million-sq-ft fill-and-finishing plant in Clayton will add 1,000 new jobs to the 2,500 employees already working at its facilities in the area.
The company estimates that 2,000 external contractors will work at the site at the height of construction.
The plant aims to achieve LEED Gold certification, with green features such as roof-top solar panels and water reuse.
Lars Fruergaard Jørgensen, Novo Nordisk’s president, said: “This is yet another real signal of our efforts to scale up our production to meet the growing global need for our life-changing medicines and the patients of tomorrow."
Foundation work is underway. The plant is due to start producing from 2027.
Novo Nordisk says it invested $3.9bn in US manufacturing last year.
The company has faced criticism for vastly overcharging Americans for its drugs.
A recent study found it charged $936 for a month’s supply of Ozempic in the US, 10 times what it charged for the same in the UK.
A month’s supply of Wegovy costs $1,349 in the US, but just $328 in Germany.
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