Who Makes Ozempic? Novo Nordisk, Explained

Ozempic is made by Novo Nordisk A/S, a Danish pharmaceutical company with its registered office at Novo Allé, DK-2880 Bagsværd, Denmark ^[1][5]. The company’s president and CEO is Maziar Mike Doustdar ^[1][5], and its chairman is Lars Rebien Sørensen ^[5]. Novo Nordisk is a public company listed on Nasdaq Copenhagen under the ticker NOVO B, and it is a component of the OMX Copenhagen 25 index ^[5]. In the United States, it files with the Securities and Exchange Commission as a foreign private issuer, submitting reports on Form 6-K and annual reports on Form 20-F; its Danish company registration number (CVR) is 24 25 67 90 ^[1].

Novo Nordisk is the largest pharmaceutical company in Denmark ^[5]. In 2025 it reported net sales of DKK 309,064 million (about 6% growth in Danish kroner, 10% at constant exchange rates) and operating profit of DKK 127,658 million ^[1][2]. It employed 69,505 people at the end of 2025 ^[2]. The company is best known for diabetes and obesity medicines, and Ozempic is one of several brands built on the same active molecule, semaglutide.

Who makes Wegovy and the other semaglutide drugs?

The same company. Novo Nordisk makes Ozempic and Wegovy, along with a long list of other medicines including Victoza, Saxenda, Levemir, Tresiba, NovoRapid, Norditropin, and NovoSeven ^[5]. Within the semaglutide family, all of the brands contain the same active ingredient; what separates them is the approved use and the form the drug comes in ^[1][5]. Ozempic is the injectable brand for diabetes, and Wegovy is the injectable brand for obesity ^[7]. On 22 December 2025, the US FDA approved the first oral GLP-1 for obesity, a once-daily 25 mg semaglutide pill sold under the name Wegovy pill ^[1]. It launched in the United States on 5 January 2026 and reached about 50,000 total weekly prescriptions by 23 January 2026 ^[1]. By the week ending 17 July 2026, weekly US prescriptions of the pill exceeded 265,000 ^[10].

Novo Nordisk has kept expanding the Wegovy line. Wegovy HD launched in the United States in April 2026, and a Wegovy 7.2 mg single-dose pen launched in the United Kingdom in June 2026 ^[10]. The 7.2 mg dose was submitted to the FDA and the EU in 2025, and the European Medicines Agency approved the 7.2 mg pen in July 2026 based on the STEP UP trial, which showed up to 20.7% mean weight loss ^[1][10]. The Wegovy pill also received EMA approval in July 2026, based on the OASIS 4 trial showing up to 16.6% mean weight loss ^[10].

The company has also won approvals that stretch semaglutide beyond weight and blood sugar. Semaglutide 2.4 mg was approved in the US for MASH (metabolic dysfunction-associated steatohepatitis), and Ozempic was approved by the EMA for peripheral arterial disease in the EU ^[1].

Is Rybelsus the same as the Ozempic pill?

Rybelsus was the original brand name for oral semaglutide in the US. According to a Fierce Pharma headline, the Rybelsus brand has been retired in the US and the product now carries “Ozempic pill” branding; the article text was not available, so the details of the change have not been verified beyond that headline ^[12]. The Durham, North Carolina plant that makes oral semaglutide has been reported as the manufacturing site for Rybelsus ^[7].

Does Novo Nordisk make Mounjaro or Zepbound?

No. Mounjaro and Zepbound do not appear on Novo Nordisk’s product list, which includes Ozempic, Wegovy, Victoza, Saxenda, Levemir, Tresiba, NovoRapid, Norditropin, and NovoSeven, among others ^[5]. The other major GLP-1 maker is Eli Lilly, a separate company and a direct competitor of Novo Nordisk; in May 2024, Eli Lilly announced a $5.3 billion investment to expand manufacturing in Indiana ^[7].

Where is Ozempic manufactured?

Novo Nordisk makes its medicines at five strategic production sites located in Denmark, the United States, France, Brazil, and China, and all of its medicines are manufactured at these sites before being distributed worldwide ^[6]. The manufacturing unit employs almost 20,000 people ^[6][7].

Production happens in two broad stages. First, the active pharmaceutical ingredient (API) is made. Then the drug is “filled and finished” — put into pens or tablets and packaged. In Denmark, Novo Nordisk announced a €5.6 billion expansion of API production, including a new multi-product API facility with a 170,000 m² footprint. Construction is scheduled to be finalized gradually from the end of 2025 through 2029, and the expansion is expected to create about 800 new jobs ^[8].

In the United States, the main site is Clayton, North Carolina. On 24 June 2024, Novo Nordisk announced a $4.1 billion (approximately DKK 27 billion) investment to build a second fill-and-finish plant there ^[6][7]. The new plant will produce Ozempic and Wegovy ^[7]. The expansion adds 1.4 million square feet of production space on a 56-acre footprint, doubling the combined square footage of the company’s three existing North Carolina facilities, and it will add 1,000 new jobs on top of nearly 2,500 existing employees in the region. Construction will be completed in phases between 2027 and 2029, with about 2,000 external contractors at the project’s peak ^[6][7].

Novo Nordisk began operating in Clayton in 1993. Its second Clayton plant came online in 2021 at a cost of $2 billion — at the time the largest life science project ever in North Carolina — and was the company’s first facility outside Denmark to produce active pharmaceutical ingredients ^[7]. A separate 180,000-square-foot site in Durham, North Carolina, opened in 2022 in a plant bought from Purdue Pharma in 2019, and it makes oral semaglutide ^[7].

The company has also bought its way into more fill-finish capacity. Novo Holdings completed its acquisition of the contract manufacturer Catalent on 18 December 2024 in an all-cash transaction with a total enterprise value of approximately $16.5 billion ^[9]. As part of that deal, Novo Holdings said it would sell three Catalent fill-finish sites — Anagni (Italy), Bloomington (USA), and Brussels (Belgium) — on to Novo Nordisk A/S, at a reported price of $11 billion ^[9][7]. Novo Nordisk’s 2025 results refer to the acquisition of the three former Catalent sites as a factor affecting 2025 operating profit ^[1].

Spending on production has climbed sharply. Novo Nordisk planned to invest about USD 6.8 billion (DKK 45 billion) in production in 2024, up from USD 3.9 billion (DKK 26 billion) in 2023 ^[6][7]. In 2025, its purchases of property, plant, and equipment came to DKK 60,140 million ^[2].

Is Ozempic made in America?

Novo Nordisk is a Danish company, and its US manufacturing footprint is large and growing. The company makes medicines at five strategic production sites, one of which is in the United States ^[6]. Its Clayton, North Carolina campus has operated since 1993, and a Clayton facility that came online in 2021 was the company’s first outside Denmark to produce active pharmaceutical ingredients ^[7]. The new $4.1 billion Clayton plant, announced on 24 June 2024, will produce Ozempic and Wegovy once construction is completed in phases between 2027 and 2029 ^[6][7]. Under the Catalent deal, Novo Holdings also said it would sell a fill-finish site in Bloomington, USA, to Novo Nordisk A/S, alongside sites in Anagni, Italy, and Brussels, Belgium ^[9].

Who owns Novo Nordisk?

Novo Nordisk’s controlling shareholder is Novo Holdings A/S, which is wholly owned by the Novo Nordisk Foundation ^[3][4][5]. At the end of 2025, Novo Holdings held A and B shares in Novo Nordisk A/S equal to about 28.1% of the share capital and about 77.3% of the votes ^[3]. Wikipedia’s summary gives roughly the same share-capital figure (approximately 28.1% of shares, with its infobox rounding to 28%) but lists 77.1% of voting shares, slightly below the Foundation’s 77.3% ^[5].

The voting power comes from the share structure. The A shares carry multiple voting rights — 10 times the votes of ordinary B shares — and they are unlisted and not traded ^[3]. The Foundation’s Articles of Association require it to maintain a controlling interest in Novo Nordisk, and it has been decided that the Foundation should hold at least 25.5% of the company’s share capital ^[3]. Novo Holdings also controls a second large listed company, Novonesis A/S, with about 25.5% of its share capital and about 63.4% of its votes at the end of 2025 ^[3].

Novo Holdings is led by CEO Kasim Kutay ^[4][9]. At year-end 2025 it had total assets of DKK 694 billion (€93 billion), down from DKK 1,060 billion (€142 billion) in 2024, mostly because of the drop in the market value of Novo Nordisk shares ^[4]. Its investment portfolio held 170 companies at the end of 2025, after adding 12 and exiting 36 during the year ^[4]. In 2025, Novo Holdings received DKK 15 billion (€2.0 billion) in dividends from the Novo Group companies ^[4].

What is the Novo Nordisk Foundation?

The Novo Nordisk Foundation was established in Denmark in 1924 and is an enterprise foundation with philanthropic objectives ^[4]. Its vision is to improve people’s health and the sustainability of society and the planet ^[4].

So Novo Nordisk is, in effect, ultimately controlled by a charitable foundation rather than by private investors or another corporation. The Foundation awarded around DKK 10 billion for scientific, humanitarian, and social purposes in 2024 ^[3]. The money it grants comes from the returns generated by Novo Holdings, including dividends from Novo Nordisk itself ^[3][4].

How did Novo Nordisk get started?

The company traces its founding to 21 December 1923 ^[5]. That year, the Danish scientist August Krogh and his wife Marie were on a lecture tour in the United States, where they learned about insulin. They changed their itinerary to meet the insulin discoverers Frederick Banting, John Macleod, Charles Best, and James Collip ^[5]. August Krogh received permission to produce insulin in Denmark, and he worked with Hans Christian Hagedorn, with funding and facilities support from August Kongsted ^[5].

The insulin laboratory and a rented factory in Emdrup were spun off into a new company, Nordisk Insulin Laboratorium, in July 1924 ^[5]. The current corporation, Novo Nordisk A/S, was created in 1989 through a merger of two Danish companies that both dated back to the 1920s ^[5]. Today it is the largest pharmaceutical company in Denmark ^[5]. The company describes itself as founded in 1923, headquartered in Denmark, with a heritage in diabetes ^[6].

How big is Novo Nordisk’s business?

Very large, and heavily weighted toward diabetes and obesity care. In 2025, sales within Obesity and Diabetes care reached DKK 289.5 billion, with obesity care alone at DKK 82.3 billion (up 31% at constant exchange rates) and rare disease sales at DKK 19.6 billion ^[1]. Obesity care sales grew from DKK 6 billion in 2019 to DKK 82 billion in 2025 ^[1]. The company says its treatments reached 45.6 million patients in 2025 ^[2], and its CEO described the figure as nearly 46 million people ^[1].

Here is how the key numbers have moved over five years ^[2]:

DKK million	2021	2022	2023	2024	2025
Net sales	140,800	176,954	232,261	290,403	309,064
Operating profit	58,644	74,809	102,574	128,339	127,658
Employees (headcount)	48,478	55,185	64,319	77,349	69,505
Closing share price (DKK)	368	469	698	624	325

Net profit in 2025 was DKK 102,434 million ^[1][2]. For comparison, Wikipedia lists Novo Nordisk’s 2024 net sales as US$42.121 billion ^[5]; the company reports its own results in Danish kroner ^[1][2]. Headcount fell 10% in 2025 ^[2]. A company profile from June 2024 described about 66,000 employees in 80 countries, with products marketed in around 170 countries ^[6]. The company’s diabetes value market share declined by 3.6 percentage points to 30.1% (moving annual total) ^[1].

Shareholders have continued to receive dividends through the recent downturn. The company paid a total dividend of DKK 11.70 per share for 2025, with a final DKK 7.95 per share proposed at the annual general meeting on 26 March 2026 ^[1][2].

Why has Novo Nordisk been in the news so much?

The company’s rise and recent struggles have both made headlines. On 1 September 2023, Novo Nordisk briefly overtook LVMH as Europe’s most valuable company, according to a Reuters headline ^[11]. Its market capitalization exceeded Denmark’s GDP in 2023 ^[5].

Since then, the picture has changed. The closing share price fell from DKK 698 at the end of 2023 to DKK 624 in 2024 and DKK 325 in 2025 — a 48% decline in 2025 alone ^[2]. For 2026, the company initially guided to adjusted sales growth of -5% to -13% at constant exchange rates, citing lower realized prices (including impacts from the US “Most Favoured Nations” agreement), the semaglutide patent expiry in certain international markets, and competition ^[1]. In August 2026 it revised that guidance to 0% to -6% at CER, driven by increased expectations for GLP-1 product sales ^[10]. Sales and operating profit in 2026 will be helped by a USD 4.2 billion reversal of 340B rebate provisions ^[1].

Other setbacks include Q2 2026 non-cash impairments of DKK 6.3 billion on pipeline assets, including DKK 4.0 billion for monlunabant ^[10]; the ZEUS phase 3 trial with ziltivekimab missing its primary cardiovascular endpoint ^[10]; and the Evoke phase 3 trials failing to show a significant reduction in Alzheimer’s disease progression ^[1]. Share repurchases collapsed from DKK 20,181 million in 2024 to DKK 1,388 million in 2025, though the board has announced a new buyback program of up to DKK 15 billion ^[1][2]. The company also incurred restructuring costs of around DKK 8 billion in 2025 tied to a company-wide transformation ^[1]. In the US, a Senate HELP Committee hearing led by Senator Bernie Sanders was held with the Novo Nordisk CEO on Ozempic and Wegovy prices, according to the press-release headline; the prepared remarks text was not available, so details beyond that headline have not been verified ^[13].

All of this news is about the company’s finances — prices, sales, trial results, and shareholder returns — not about the medicine itself.

Why is Novo Nordisk now calling itself Novo?

On 14 September 2026, the company announced that it is entering a “next chapter” supported by a Novo rebrand and an updated corporate culture, according to the announcement headline ^[14]. The body text of that announcement was not available, so details of the rebrand — such as any new tagline or its full scope — have not been verified beyond that headline. Wikipedia’s entry for the company is now titled “Novo (company)” while noting the legal name remains Novo Nordisk A/S ^[5].

What does this mean if you take Ozempic?

For a patient, the brand name tells you the approved use and the form of the drug, not a different medicine. Ozempic, Wegovy, and the Wegovy pill all contain semaglutide made by the same company ^[1][5]. Questions about which product or dose is right for a specific person are for a clinician to answer.

Sources

1. US Securities and Exchange Commission. Novo Nordisk A/S Form 6-K report of foreign private issuer. February 4, 2026.
2. Novo Nordisk. Five-year overview. Annual Report 2025.
3. Novo Nordisk Fonden. Ownership.
4. Novo Holdings. Novo Holdings announces 2025 Annual Results. March 12, 2026.
5. Wikipedia. Novo (company).
6. Novo Nordisk. Novo Nordisk announces 4.1 billion USD investment to expand US manufacturing capacity. June 24, 2024.
7. Fierce Pharma. Novo Nordisk reveals plan to build mammoth $4.1B plant in North Carolina to help produce Ozempic, Wegovy. June 24, 2024.
8. CHEManager. Novo Nordisk to Invest €5.6 Billion in Expansion of API Production in Denmark.
9. Novo Holdings. Novo Holdings completes acquisition of Catalent. December 18, 2024.
10. US Securities and Exchange Commission. Novo Nordisk A/S Form 6-K report of foreign private issuer. August 4, 2026.
11. Reuters. Novo Nordisk briefly overtakes LVMH as Europe’s most valuable company. September 1, 2023.
12. Fierce Pharma. Novo Nordisk’s Rybelsus officially retired in US as ‘Ozempic pill’ takes branding center stage. May 1, 2026.
13. Senator Bernie Sanders. Prepared remarks: Sanders leads HELP Committee hearing with Novo Nordisk CEO on outrageous Ozempic and Wegovy prices. September 24, 2024.
14. GlobeNewswire. Novo Nordisk enters next chapter to bring better health to more people supported by Novo rebrand and updated corporate culture. September 14, 2026.