Feb 5 Reuters Novo Nordisk notched a win on Monday in its race to boost output of its popular obesity drug Wegovy, with its parent company announcing it was buying Catalent, a key manufacturing subcontractor of the product, for 11.5 billion.

Kasim Kutay, CEO of Novo Holdings, told Reuters the deal is core to his company39;s strategy to support Novo Nordisk and enable the drugmaker to expand fillfinish capacity to meet soaring demand for Wegovy.

Novo Holdings, which is the investment arm of Novo39;s controlling shareholder, the Novo Nordisk Foundation, will buy Catalent39;s shares for 11.5 billion, with the deal worth 16.5 billion when including debt.

After the merger closes, Novo Holdings will then sell three of Catalent39;s fillfinish sites in Italy, Belgium and the United States onto Novo Nordisk for 11 billion.

We have sold some very important fillfinish capacity to Novo Nordisk as part of this transaction, Kutay said in an interview. That capacity is a a key strategic consideration for Novo Nordisk particularly when thinking about patients and making sure there is broader rollout for Ozempic and Wegovy, he said.

Novo Nordisk39;s shares were up nearly 4 in afternoon trading in Copenhagen, while Catalent39;s shares rose as much as 10 to a more than ninemonth high in early trading in New York.

The move comes as Novo faces competition from U.S. rival Eli Lilly39;s injection Zepbound in the fastgrowing obesity drug race. Analysts have estimated the market could…