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Novo Nordisk Engages Thermo Fisher to Address Wegovy Demand

Thermo Fisher is filling Wegovy injection pens at its factory in Greenville, NC through its CDMO subsidiary Patheon.

By: Anthony Vecchione

Novo Nordisk hired Thermo Fisher Scientific as a second manufacturer as demand for its weight-loss drug Wegovy (semaglutide) soars and amid Catalent’s production problems at a factory in Brussels, Belgium.

According to Reuters, Thermo Fisher is filling Wegovy injection pens at its factory in Greenville, NC through its CDMO subsidiary Patheon. In May, Reuters reported that Novo had brought on a second, then-unnamed manufacturer.

The news comes in the wake of reports of difficulties with Catalent, the first manufacturer contracted by Novo to produce Wegovy. Deliveries were halted in late 2021 only months after the drug’s launch, when the FDA found issues at the Brussels syringe-filling facility. The facility was shut down again in 2022 after another inspection by the regulator found lapses. Novo ended up cutting back promotional efforts for the drug amid the production difficulties.

An FDA Form 483 warning letter at one of its production plants delayed production of its Moderna COVID-19 booster, and recent shortfalls in sanitation, maintenance, and equipment issues cited by the FDA saw the facility shut down again.

The company’s Q3 financial report  saw revenues fall 19% below last year’s earnings for the same quarter, beating Wall Street projections. Shares rose 10% after the news broke, though this represents only a partial recovery; shares fell over 40% from April after news of its operational issues broke.

Catalent CEO Allesandro Maselli said in the report that the “fundamentals of our business remain strong,” despite operational challenges. “We continue to make progress in addressing our previously announced operational challenges, while also completing our strategic investments in high-demand, high-growth areas and executing a company-wide cost-reduction plan,” he said.

Part of the reduction plan included laying off hundreds of workers last year.


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