Novo Nordisk invests €432 million in GLP-1 therapy production in Ireland

Novo Nordisk has announced an investment of 3.2 billion Danish kroner (€432 million) in its manufacturing facility in Monksland, Athlone, Ireland, where current and future GLP-1 therapies for the treatment of obesity and type 2 diabetes will be produced. This was reported by Pharmaphorum.

The investment involves the construction of a new tablet manufacturing facility, which will increase production capacity for oral GLP-1 medications, including the recently launched tablet form of Wegovy (semaglutide).

Oral Wegovy is currently available only in the US market, where it has seen strong initial sales growth. The company has already submitted applications for product approval in other markets, including the European Union and the United Kingdom, with regulatory decisions expected in the coming months.

According to Novo Nordisk, the investment will allow for the modernization and expansion of the existing facility and will establish Ireland as a key manufacturing hub serving markets outside the US. In parallel, the company announced in 2024 the construction of a $4.1 billion plant in Clayton, North Carolina, which will produce both the tablet and injectable forms of Wegovy for the US market.

The Monksland facility currently employs approximately 260 people, and about 500 temporary jobs are expected to be created during the construction phase. The project, covering a 45-acre site, is scheduled for completion by 2028. The company has not specified whether additional permanent positions will be created once the investment is finalized.

The news comes at a time of intensified competition in the semaglutide therapy market, where the injectable Ozempic and Wegovy are under pressure from the dual GIP/GLP-1 agonist tirzepatide, used in Eli Lilly’s Zepbound and Mounjaro products.

Eli Lilly is also developing an oral GLP-1 therapy—orforglipron—which is currently undergoing regulatory evaluation. At this stage, however, the question of the comparative efficacy and safety profile of the new tablet therapies remains open.