Massive New Diabetes Medical Facility Breaks Ground near Raleigh

By Keith Loria, Contributing Editor

Rendering of Novo Nordisk’s future facility in Clayton, N.C.

Clayton, N.C.—Novo Nordisk has broken ground on its new $1.8 billion diabetes medicine production facility in Clayton, N.C., which will be utilized to produce active pharmaceutical ingredients (API) for a range of the company’s current and future GLP-1 and insulin medicines.

Expected to be complete in 2020, the 833,000-square-foot facility will ensure the global healthcare company’s production capacity for diabetes medicines in the U.S. for at least the next decade.

“As the prevalence of diabetes has grown in the U.S., so too has the demand for effective treatments,” Lars Rebien Sørensen, Novo Nordisk president & CEO, said in a prepared release. “It gives me great pride to break ground on our new facility site in Clayton where we have an existing, strong organization. This site will play a vital role in enabling us to meet the needs of people living with diabetes in the U.S. for years to come.”

The new Novo Nordisk site is located directly adjacent to the company’s 457,000-square-foot Clayton, N.C., facility, which was originally constructed in 1996 and has been expanded several times since.

In addition to creating GLP-1 and insulin medicines, the plant also assembles and packages the Novo Nordisk’s FlexPen and FlexTouch prefilled insulin devices for the U.S. market.

The expansion has been reported to help in the creation of up to 700 new jobs, with an average salary of $68,000. Additionally, Novo Nordisk expects to create a significant employment effect during the construction period with up to 2,500 people working on the project at peak construction.

“Novo Nordisk’s billion dollar decision to bring this landmark manufacturing facility to North Carolina underscores its commitment to our state and confidence in our state’s talent,” Pat McCrory, North Carolina governor, said in the release. “This expansion of the current site and workforce highlights our ability to be a leader in bio-manufacturing at the global level.”

Image courtesy of the North Carolina Biotechnology Center