(Yicai) March 19 -- Novo Nordisk, a major global producer of insulin and weight loss drugs, will invest CNY4 billion (USD555.6 million) to revamp its plant in northern China’s Tianjin to meet local demand for innovative drugs.

The pharmaceutical giant will use world-leading isolator technologies to create better aseptic conditions at the factory and the project will be finished by 2027, the Bagsværd-based maker of Ozempic announced on its website today.

Novo Nordisk entered China in 1994, setting up a plant in the northern port city of Tianjin. Since then, the company has gradually hiked its investment in the nation with a rising prevalence of diabetes. In the first quarter of last year, Novo Nordisk invested CNY1.2 billion to make prefilled insulin pens.

Established in 1923, Novo Nordisk has gained wide attention around the world in recent years for its hit products Ozempic and Wegovy. These glucagon-like peptide-one receptor agonists help regulate blood sugar and control appetite, especially among people with type 2 diabetes.

China approved an oral tablet of semaglutide, a type of GLP-1 RAs, in January to be used by type 2 diabetics, almost three years after a corresponding injection was given the green light to enter the market in August 2021. However, the drug is not allowed to be prescribed off-label for weight control.

Novo Nordisk gained DKK16.7 billion (USD2.4 billion) in revenue in China last year, up 3 percent from the previous year, or an 11 percent increase when excluding exchange rate changes. The Chinese market made up 7 percent of its global revenue, according to the latest earnings report.

Editor: Emmi Laine