In this photo illustration, injectable pens of the weight loss drug Wegovy from Novo Nordisk are shown in Oslo, Norway, on November 21, 2023.
Victoria Klesty | Reuters
NordiskThe parent company said Monday it will acquire the drugmaker. Catalent in a $16.5 billion deal that could help boost supplies of the wildly popular weight-loss shot Wegovy and the diabetes vaccine Ozempic.
Catalent is the leading provider of fill and finish work, which involves the filling and packaging of syringes and injection pens, for Novo Nordisk's Wegovy.
As part of the deal, Danish pharmaceutical company Novo Nordisk will buy three of Catalent's manufacturing plants from its parent company, Novo Holdings, for $11 billion. Novo Holdings owns almost 77% of Novo Nordisk's voting shares.
Novo Nordisk and Novo Holdings said they expect the acquisition of the plants and the broader deal to buy Catalent to close by the end of 2024.
Novo Nordisk added that it expects its purchase to help gradually increase its filling capacity from 2026 and beyond. The company has already contracted the three plants, which are located in Italy, Belgium and Bloomington, Indiana.
Catalent shares rose about 10% in premarket trading on Monday after the deal was announced. The company has a market value of approximately $10 billion. Novo Nordisk shares rose nearly 2% in premarket trading, for a market value of around $390 billion.
Novo Nordisk shares rose nearly 53% last year as Wegovy and Ozempic gained popularity (and suffered shortages) for their ability to help patients lose significant weight over time.
The deal with Catalent is the company's latest effort to increase manufacturing capacity for its drugs as it faces competition from Eli Lilly and other emerging competitors in the weight loss drug market.
Last year, the company announced plans to invest in new production facilities in Denmark and France. Novo Nordisk also said last week that it has more than doubled the number of initial doses of Wegovy it is shipping to the US, allowing more patients to begin treatment.
Under the terms of the deal, Novo Holdings will buy Catalent for $63.50 per share in cash, a 16.5% premium to Catalent's closing price on Friday.
The deal to buy Catalent is backed by activist investor Elliott Investment Management, which has a stake in the US company, according to Novo Holdings.
In particular, some of the Catalent factories that make Wegovy have been linked to regulatory issues in the past. Reuters reported in July that Catalent's Brussels factory that fills Wegovy pens had repeatedly violated U.S. sterilization safety standards in recent years and that staff had failed to perform required quality checks.
