© Getty Images

Novo Nordisk -

Novo Nordisk is one of the world’s largest insulin manufacturers. It’s also the company behind two of the biggest weight loss drugs: Ozempic and Wegovy. 

© Getty Images

Denmark's economic backbone -

Novo Nordisk is Europe’s most valuable company, surpassing Louis Vuitton. In fact, the company singlehandedly prevented the nation from falling into a recession.

© Getty Images

Concerns over overdependence -

There are concerns about Denmark’s overdependence on a single entity but the company’s gains continue to appear sustainable.

© Getty Images

Headquarters -

While its headquarters are located just outside Denmark’s capital city of Copenhagen, its production site has long been located in the small town of Kalundborg.

© Getty Images

Kalundborg -

Kalundborg, boasting a population of a mere 16,000 people, is located just an hour and half from the capital city.

© Getty Images

More than 25% of population employed -

The town functions more like a factory, with more than 4,500 (a bit more than 25%) of its residents working for the pharmaceutical giant.

© Getty Images

National population tied to company -

Even those who aren’t employed by Novo Nordisk overwhelmingly harbor some connection to the company. In fact, nearly 3% of all of Denmark’s workforce is tied to the company.

© Getty Images

Town's development -

The boost in well-paying labor for Kalundborg’s residents has greatly benefited the town’s development.

© Getty Images

Income tax -

Income tax contributions have increased in the town, allowing for the construction of a new train station and a project to develop the town’s pier and new public park.

© Getty Images

Company will continue investing -

The town is going to continue to drastically change, with Novo Nordisk promising to invest billions more into the town’s development.

© Getty Images

Local business benefits -

Local businesses, including restaurants and cafés, are experiencing the benefits of the boom, too, with notable increased sales throughout the town.

© Getty Images

Luck -

The town’s mayor, Martin Damm (pictured), attributes the company’s success to luck. Many of Novo Nordisk's innovative medical products have been hits.

© Getty Images

Celebrity usage -

Weight loss drugs have certainly been in the spotlight, especially due to celebrity usage and results.

© Getty Images

Ozempic face -

Social media has come up with specific tactics to identify its use, like "Ozempic face" and other terms that may highlight if someone is using the drugs.

© Getty Images

Not just aesthetics -

But besides its use by the rich and famous, we should not reduce their use simply to aesthetics and smaller frames.

© Getty Images

Obesity crisis -

According to the World Health Organization (WHO), by 2022, one in eight adults was considered to be obese. The obesity rates had more than doubled in a mere 20-year period.

© Getty Images

Positive impact -

Weight loss drugs like those Novo Nordisk is producing can change the lives of millions of people around the world, providing a medical intervention for the world’s obesity crisis.

© Getty Images

Competition between markets -

Novo Nordisk’s products are in major competition with an American pharmaceutical, Eli Lilly, in maximizing profits off of “GLP 1 agonist products.”

© Getty Images

Replication of hormone -

These drugs essentially replicate the behavior of an appetite-suppressing hormone stored in the gut, which is what drives their effectiveness.

© Getty Images

Maximum income -

Novo Nordisk is certainly trying to generate as much income as it can from these drugs, and is struggling to fulfill market demands.

© Getty Images

Kalundborg runs 24/7 -

Running like a well-oiled machine, Kalundborg is the town that doesn’t sleep. Novo Nordisk’s production site runs 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

© Getty Images

Not everyone benefits -

But all its bells and whistles haven’t been great for all members of the local community, especially its non-Western residents.

© Getty Images

Few opportunities -

Many who are living in social housing could greatly benefit from employment at the company’s local site, but few are given the opportunity.

© Getty Images

Former cleaner -

A 2024 article in the Economist uses the example of a former cleaner at the Danish pharmaceutical giant, Bhagya Laxmi Kaxhati.

© Getty Images

Chemical engineer -

Kaxhati was a chemical engineer in her native India. She moved to Denmark in the early 2000s, hoping to find a job in her field, but to no avail.

© Getty Images

Hoping for opportunity -

She hoped the rise of Novo Nordisk in Kalundborg would increase her chance of finding skilled labor in her field.

© Getty Images

Job-seeking -

Kaxhati isn’t a unique example. Many non-Western immigrants move to Denmark and greater Europe with skilled backgrounds, seeking jobs in their respective fields.

© Getty Images

Low-skill, low-wage labor -

Yet most face no luck in their job search, requiring them to take service and other low-skill jobs, keeping them in a cycle of low-wage labor.

© Getty Images

Unemployment down -

Despite the disparity in employment acquisition, Kalundborg’s development does benefit those living in the town, disseminating its formerly high unemployment rate.

Sources: (The Economist) (Politico)

See also: Researchers identify a potential natural alternative to Ozempic

© Getty Images