North Carolina Economic Development Guide

2017

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37 N o r t h C a r o l i N a E C o N o m i C D E v E l o p m E N t G u i D E he telephone request for "high-level" workforce information sounded routine. A large, anonymous life-sciences client was requesting a summary of what the Research Triangle region had to offer. "We didn't know who the company was," recalls Anna Lea Moore, who took the call from a site-selection consultant in spring 2014 while she was a business recruiter at the N.C. Department of Commerce. "They told us the company was doing preliminary investigations in the U.S. and Europe, and that we needed to be prepared." About 16 months later, top executives from Novo Nordisk A/S joined state and local officials in announcing the Danish insulin manufacturer's choice of the Johnston County town of Clayton for a $1.8 billion investment that will create nearly 700 jobs. The new complex will sit across the street from the company's existing plant, where about 800 workers assemble insulin pens for the North American market. "They'll be hiring workers who will make diabetes care products to help patients in North Carolina and all over the world," Gov. Pat McCrory said at the August 2015 announcement. The company's move "underscores the Research Triangle's global leadership in bio-manufacturing," he added. "When it comes to life sciences and manufacturing, North Carolina can compete — and win — against any location in the world." Behind Novo Nordisk's investment is an alarming global trend in human health. An estimated 415 million people live with diabetes, according to the Brussels-based International Diabetes Federation. By 2040, the figure could reach 642 million — or one out of every 10 adults. The estimated $673 billion spent treating diabetes around the world amounts to 12% of global health care expenditures, IDF says. Novo Nordisk's leadership in diabetes medication is reflected in its worldwide business footprint. Founded in 1923, the Copenhagen-based company employs 39,700 across 75 nations. Its presence in North Carolina dates to 1993. The new plant will manufacture the active pharmaceutical ingredients of Novo's diabetes treatments, which have, until now, been Novo Nordisk picks North Carolina, home to a burgeoning life-sciences industry, for its $1.8 billion manufacturing plant. B Y D . L A W R E N C E B I V I N S c a s e s t u d y | b i o t e c h n o l o g y the right prescription t North Carolina's reputation as a hub for biotechnology companies was bolstered when Novo Nordisk, the world's largest insulin maker, selected Clayton for its first ingredients-manufacturing plant outside of Denmark.

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