STORY: Novo Nordisk increases investment in China plant
SHOOTING TIME: March 20/21, 2024
DATELINE: March 23, 2024
LENGTH: 00:01:27
LOCATION: TIANJIN, China
CATEGORY: ECONOMY/MARKET

SHOTLIST:
1. various of the construction site
2. SOUNDBITE 1 (English): LARS ARNOLDSEN, Corporate vice president of Novo Nordisk
3. various of the production line
4. SOUNDBITE 2 (Chinese): CHRISTINE ZHOU, Senior vice president of Novo Nordisk

STORYLINE:

Danish pharmaceutical company Novo Nordisk announced earlier this week that it will increase its investment in an expansion project at its production base in north China's Tianjin Municipality by about 4 billion yuan (about 556 million U.S. dollars).

According to the company, the investment will help Novo Nordisk adopt globally leading isolator technology to provide higher levels of sterility assurance for pharmaceutical production.

SOUNDBITE 1 (English): LARS ARNOLDSEN, Corporate vice president of Novo Nordisk
"We have been here 30 years in Tianjin and now we are expanding with another facility that includes a filling facility. It's a new technology we are introducing here, the isolater technology. We expect here to be ready to start our testing and manufacturing in 2027."
     
Thirty years ago, Novo Nordisk started the construction of its Tianjin production plant, taking the first step in its business in China. In the first quarter of 2023, the company invested 1.18 billion yuan in the expansion project of the finished product workshop and new production lines.

SOUNDBITE 2 (Chinese): CHRISTINE ZHOU, Senior vice president of Novo Nordisk
"China has always been an important market for Novo Nordisk. We have a whole industrial chain layout here. We truly feel the convenience brought by a series of measures such as the whole-process, all-round and convenient services, as well as the opportunities in the biomedical field (in China), which has strengthened our confidence in future development."

Xinhua News Agency correspondents reporting from Tianjin, China.
(XHTV)