Novo Nordisk has laid off dozens of employees at its plant in North Carolina, an analysis of LinkedIn posts by Reuters found. The layoffs come after the company announced a plan to cut 9,000 jobs globally in an effort to compete with Eli Lilly last month. The exact number of layoffs at the Clayton plant is presently unknown.
Novo Nordisk plant in Clayton, NC. Credit: Novo Nordisk
The cuts included staff in a wide range of positions, from quality control to HR. The posts found by Reuters included production line technicians, technical manufacturing workers, project coordinators, a strategic communications manager and an HR assistant. Reuters found 47 posts explicitly stating the poster had been laid off or was looking for work.
The plant in Clayton, NC produces semaglutide, the main ingredient in both Ozempic, Wegovy and the oral-based therapy Rybelsus, and handles packaging for U.S. supply. In 2024, Novo Nordisk announced a $4.1 billion expansion to the plant. It is unclear whether this expansion will move forward. The expansion would also add 1,000 employees to the plant. The first phase was scheduled to be completed in 2027.
Novo Nordisk has been present in Clayton since 1993. It built a second plant in the area in 2021, which was the largest life science project ever in North Carolina, costing $2 billion. The plant was Novo Nordisk’s first facility outside of Denmark that produced active pharmaceutical ingredients.
The GLP-1 competition
Novo Nordisk stock dipped sharply in August, following disappointing sales and a lower growth expectation for the second half of the year, as well as the appointment of a new CEO. Although Ozempic has basically become synonymous with ‘weight loss treatment’ for the public, Novo Nordisk is struggling against growing competition from drugs such as Eli Lilly’s Zepbound. While sales erosion from compounded semaglutide has dipped after the semaglutide shortage ended, the problem persists, and Novo Nordisk announced expanded litigation in August to combat the problem.
Eli Lilly stock is up 8.46%, while Novo Nordisk is down 32.55% YTD. Eli Lilly’s two GLP-1 drugs, Mounjaro and Zepbound, generated a combined $14.734 million in sales YTD as of Aug. 7. Comparatively, Novo Nordisk’s GLP-1s generated $7,831.22 million in the first six months of 2025. Studies have shown that tirzepatide could be more effective than semaglutide for weight loss, which could be a factor in Lilly stock’s resilience.
Novo Nordisk’s oral weight-loss drug, using the same active ingredient as Ozempic and Wegovy, could give the company a boost – if it gains FDA approval. The company is already planning to make the drug available through telehealth programs.
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