SAO PAULO (Reuters) – Danish drugmaker Novo Nordisk will invest 864 million reais ($158.2 million) to revamp a plant in Brazil responsible for pumping out a quarter of its insulin production globally, the firm said on Friday.
The funds will overhaul the Montes Claros factory, in the southeastern state of Minas Gerais, and implement sustainable projects there, Novo Nordisk said in a statement.
The maker of Ozempic and Wegovy, which have exploded in popularity for their use as weight-loss drugs, made the announcement public as Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva met earlier in the day with Queen Mary Donaldson of Denmark, the Brazilian government said in a statement.
($1 = 5.4627 reais)
(Reporting by Andre Romani and Paula Arend Laier; Editing by Gabriel Araujo and Kylie Madry)