Supply chain
The Novo-Catalent deal now moving ahead highlights unprecedented investment in manufacturing, while also standing out as an exception to the unspoken rule of keeping M&As to less than $5 billion this year.
Novo’s latest investment comes just days after the U.S. FTC greenlit the highly contentious acquisition of Catalent, which analysts expect will help the pharma expand its production capacity.
It is not clear what specifically the new facility will produce, though Amgen could be ramping up its manufacturing capacity as it prepares to enter the obesity space with MariTide.
In recent months Novo Nordisk has invested several billions of dollars to boost its manufacturing capacity—including its highly contested $16.5 billion merger with CDMO giant Catalent.
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Currently, Eli Lilly’s GLP-1 drugs Mounjaro and Zepbound (tirzepatide) are not on the FDA’s shortage list but compounded pharmacies are still making them. That’s unprecedented.
Novo said supply of Wegovy and Ozempic is in good shape after the drugs were removed from the FDA’s shortage list last week. But Eli Lilly reported slower than expected sales in the third quarter due to wholesaler destocking.
Novo Nordisk’s total revenue in the third quarter missed analysts’ expectations but sales of weight loss drug Wegovy exceeded the consensus forecast. Still, the Danish drugmaker narrowed its full-year guidance for revenue and operating profit.
The contract manufacturer fell short of Wall Street’s projections for its first quarter of fiscal 2025, which ended Sept. 30, 2024. The miss comes amid growing opposition to Novo Holdings’ proposed $16.5 billion acquisition of Catalent.
Lilly CEO Dave Ricks in Wednesday’s third-quarter earnings call acknowledged that the company is at the mercy of wholesaler stocking decisions.
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