Injection pens of Novo Nordisk’s weight-loss drug Wegovy are shown on this photo illustration in Oslo, Norway, November 21, 2023.
Victoria Klesty | Reuters
Novo Nordisk‘s parent company on Monday said it’s going to acquire drug manufacturer Catalent in a $16.5 billion deal that might help boost the supply of the highly popular weight reduction injection Wegovy and diabetes shot Ozempic.
Catalent is the principal supplier of fill-finish work, which involves filling and packaging syringes and injection pens, for Novo Nordisk’s Wegovy.
As a part of the deal, Danish drugmaker Novo Nordisk will buy three of Catalent’s manufacturing sites from its parent company, Novo Holdings, for $11 billion. Novo Holdings owns almost 77% of the voting shares in Novo Nordisk.
Novo Nordisk and Novo Holdings said they expect the acquisition of the plants and the broader deal to buy Catalent to close at the tip of 2024.
Novo Nordisk added that it expects its purchase to step by step help increase its filling capability from 2026 and beyond. The corporate already contracts the three plants, that are positioned in Italy, Belgium and Bloomington, Indiana.
Catalent shares rose about 10% in premarket trading Monday after the deal announcement. The corporate has a market value of roughly $10 billion. Novo Nordisk’s stock rose almost 2% in premarket trading, for a market value of about $390 billion.
Shares of Novo Nordisk jumped almost 53% last 12 months as Wegovy and Ozempic soared in popularity – and slipped into shortages – for his or her ability to help patients lose significant weight over time.
The Catalent deal is the corporate’s latest effort to boost manufacturing capability for its drugs because it faces competition from Eli Lilly and other emerging competitors in the load loss drug market.
Last 12 months, the corporate announced plans to put money into recent production facilities in Denmark and France. Novo Nordisk also said last week that it has greater than doubled the variety of Wegovy starter doses it’s shipping to the U.S., which permit more patients to begin the treatment.
Under the terms of the deal, Novo Holdings will buy Catalent for $63.50 a share in money, a premium of 16.5% to Catalent’s closing price on Friday.
The deal to buy Catalent has the backing of activist investor Elliott Investment Management, which has a stake within the U.S. company, according to Novo Holdings.
Notably, a few of Catalent’s factories that manufacture Wegovy have been linked to to regulatory problems up to now. Reuters reported in July that Catalent’s factory in Brussels that fills Wegovy pens had repeatedly breached U.S. sterile-safety rules lately and that staff had failed to perform required quality checks.