Novo Nordisk to build $4B factory in U.S. amid weight-loss drug shortages

Driving the news: Novo will construct the 1.4 million-square-foot factory alongside other production facilities in Clayton, North Carolina, where it expects to add 1,000 new jobs on top of the 2,500 it already provides in the area.

• The new operation — which will double the company's physical presence in the state — will handle aseptic manufacturing and finished production.
• "It took us a century to reach 40 million patients, but through this expansion and continued investment in our global production, we're building Novo Nordisk's ability to serve millions more people living with serious chronic diseases in the future," Novo Nordisk CEO Lars Fruergaard Jørgensen said in a statement.

The big picture: The facility could ease shortages that have made it difficult for some patients to obtain access to GLP-1 medications.

Yes, but: The 56-acre campus won't be finished until 2029.