Danish pharmaceutical company Novo Nordisk recently announced plans to spend approximately $1.2 billion to build a new production facility in Odense, Denmark. The scope of the project includes a finished production plant and warehouse totaling more than 430,000 sq ft.

The main facility is planned to include on-site solar power generation. The owner intends to plant more than 4,000 trees there.

The manufacturing site is designed for modularity and flexibility, so it can accommodate production of medicines for multiple rare diseases such as hemophilia, according to Novo Nordisk.

The facility will use "advanced technology and innovative equipment to ensure the highest quality to patients and meet the growing global demand for our life-changing medicines," said Henrik Wulff, executive vice president of product supply, quality and IT at Novo Nordisk, in a statement.

Site work is already underway, although a Novo Nordisk representative declined to name contractors working on the project. It is scheduled for completion in 2027.

The drugmaker has a separate project in North Carolina to expand production of its popular weight loss and diabetes treatments, Wegovy and Ozempic.

Morrisville, N.C.-based BE&K is construction manager for that $4.1-billion project.

The U.S. project has some similarities to the newly announced work in Denmark, such as inclusion of on-site solar. Novo Nordisk has said it aims to earn LEED Gold certification for the facility. Completion of that plant is expected in phases, starting in 2027 and continuing into 2029.