The top management of Danish pharmaceutical giant Novo Nordisk reportedly travelled to China in June to explore the possibility of partnering with a local manufacturer, according to the Danish business newspaper Finans.
During the visit, Novo Nordisk executives are said to have met with a potential Chinese partner as the company explores expanding its manufacturing capacity in one of its most strategically important growth markets.
The reported discussions centre on the possibility of having a Chinese contract manufacturer produce a synthetic version of semaglutide, the active ingredient used in the blockbuster diabetes and weight-loss medicines Ozempic and Wegovy.
The growing global demand for GLP-1 medicines has prompted pharmaceutical companies to expand production capacity, and two Danish analysts told Finans that exploring a local manufacturing partnership in China would be a logical step.
“In a market where it is not yet clear what stable production levels will look like in the future, a contract manufacturer can be a wise choice because Chinese manufacturers are very flexible when it comes to scaling production up or down,” Markus Wenzel, a partner at consultancy Horváth and a supply chain expert, told Finans.
The production of Wegovy requires large quantities of semaglutide, making manufacturing capacity a key challenge as demand continues to grow.
“If Novo Nordisk is looking towards a future where it expects to sell millions of Wegovy pills, I think it makes sense to explore whether someone can manufacture it synthetically for them,” Claus Henrik Johansen, CEO of investment fund Global Health Invest, told Finans.
Novo Nordisk declined to comment on the reported China plans when contacted by Finans.
Source: Finans.dk
