Company plans to make the pill version of its anti-obesity treatment Wegovy in Ireland
The plan was first revealed last month by its chief executive Mike Doustdar, as he described the launch of the Wegovy pill as one of the most successful pharmaceutical debuts ever, with more than 240,000 Americans taking it.
Referring to Novo Nodisk’s bid to reclaim its dominant position in the weight-loss market, which it has lost to Eli Lilly, Mr Doustdar said: “If we were about to throw in the towel, we would not be investing in factories in Ireland.”
The company said the investment at the tablet manufacturing plant in Athlone will provide significant additional capacity for current and future GLP-1 treatments. These medications mimic a natural hormone in order to lower blood sugar levels and reduce appetite, and are used to treat type 2 diabetes and obesity.
Kasper Bodker Mejlvang of Novo Nordisk said: “With the investment in the Athlone facility, Novo Nordisk is expanding its production capacities for oral products, which will enable us to meet both current and future global demand outside the US.”
Dilek Dogan Gurluk, the recently appointed general manager of Novo Nordisk Ireland, said the Athlone manufacturing plant will be key to the company’s plan to reach more patients.
“Ireland faces a significant public health challenge. Over the past 30 years, rates of overweight and obesity have risen sharply across all age groups, social classes, and genders,” she said.
“Today, Ireland ranks among the highest in Europe, with 60pc of adults and more than 20pc of children living with overweight or obesity. These trends are shaped by the environments in which we live, work and age, and they demand a comprehensive model of care for patient treatment.”
Novo Nordisk, which employs about 260 people in Athlone, has a global workforce of over 68,000 people operating in 80 countries. The company says that the expansion project will cover 45 acres and create up to 600 construction jobs.
The work which has already begun, will be finalised towards the end of next year and the start of 2028.
The expansion represents something of a reversal of Novo Nordisk’s fortunes in Ireland. Over two years ago it cancelled a plan to build a factory near Dublin, and last autumn it reduced its workforce at the Athlone plant, which it bought for €85m in 2023 from the pharma group Alkermes.
In February, Novo Nordisk warned of a double-digit fall in sales and a “painful” reduction in prices of close to 20pc. This followed a deal struck with US president Donald Trump’s administration to offer lower prices to US consumers, in return for immunity from tariffs.
Novo Nordisk’s hope is that the tablet form of the weight-loss drug Wegovy will be more attractive to people who do not like giving themselves injections.
Authorised in pill form in America at the start of 2026, the company expects that the process of approval in Europe will be completed in the second half of this year. Europe represents a considerable marketing opportunity for the medication as, according to World Health Organisation (WHO) statistics, 22.6pc of adults in Europe are classified as obese.
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