Danish pharma giant on the hunt for Oxford lab

Novo Nordisk has instructed Colliers to find a wet lab facility in Oxford for occupation as soon as mid-2025. According to market sources, the drugmaker has toured a number of facilities in the region, with the Iversen Building on the Oxford Science Park understood to be among the favourites. The Danish pharma giant occupies 5,000 sq ft of space at the Innovation Building in Headington, Oxford. It is looking to grow its presence in the region to 60,000 sq ft. Last year, Swiss pharma firm Lonza had its eyes on the 88,953 sq ft lab-ready Iversen Building, but withdrew its plans after 2023 profit nearly halved. Novo Nordisk has a market capitalization of $540bn (£418bn), which is about $120bn more than the $420bn GDP recorded by its home country, Denmark, last year, according to the IMF. In 2023, Novo Nordisk’s annual gross profit was $28.5bn, while sales topped $33.7bn, both figures representing a 36% increase from 2022 at constant exchange rates. Earlier this year, Novo Nordisk opened a digital innovation hub in London’s Knowledge Quarter, N1, locating around 40 workers from its research and development and IT divisions there. Novo Nordisk and Colliers declined to comment. See lettings in Oxfordshire >> Photo © Chokniti Khongchum/Pexels