Novo Nordisk A/S's $225 Million Hemophilia Facility Will Create 100 New Jobs
May 4, 2015
By Alex Keown, BioSpace.com Breaking News Staff
BAGSVAERD, Denmark – Danish pharmaceutical giant Novo Nordisk , the world’s largest insulin maker is investing $225 million into a new hemophilia treatment manufacturing site in Kalundborg, Denmark, Reuters reported this morning.
The new facility, which is expected to create 100 new jobs, will produce active ingredients for Novoseven and future products for treating hemophilia, the company said said. The new facility is expected to be approved and fully operational in 2020.
Novo Nordisk currently employs more than 2,800 people in Kalundborg. Henrik Wulff, executive vice president of product supply at Novo Nordisk, said the company expects to hire an additional 250 people to fill various open positions in Kalundborg this year.
NovoSeven, which was approved for use in the United States in 1999, controls bleeding in hemophilia patients by bypassing clotting inhibitors. Hemophilia is a bleeding disorder affecting 1 in 10,000 people. People with hemophilia have either decreased, defective or absent production of blood clotting protein.
In March Novo Nordisk announced it would launch Novoeight in the United States for people living with hemophilia A. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved the injectable Novoeight for use in adults and children with hemophilia A for the control and prevention of bleeding, perioperative management, and routine prophylaxis to prevent or reduce the frequency of bleeding episodes based on results from the guardian trials.
In March the company announced it will resubmit its new drug application of its insulin treatment Tresiba and related drug Ryzodeg to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration after interim analysis of the drug’s cardiovascular effects. Tresiba is a once-daily long-lasting insulin treatment, also known as degludec, that the company believes will be a huge driver in diabetes treatments. The FDA rejected Tresiba in 2013 due to concerns of increased risk of heart complications. The FDA asked the Novo Nordisk to complete a cardiovascular safety study of the long-acting insulin in 7,500 patients before granting market authorization. The FDA’s rejection came on the heels of Tresiba’s approval by European regulatory authorities.
Last month Novo Nordisk’s top executive candidate and current company president Kåre Schultz abruptly stepped down from the firm he’s played a key role in for 26 years. Kåre was being groomed to replace Lars Rebien Soerensen, the current chief executive officer, however, when the company released its quarterly filings last month the company said Soerensen will remain CEO until “the approaches the end of his contract,” which expires in 2019. Company stock showed a slight uptick this morning from its opening of $57.04 per share.
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