2024-11-03
26 分钟The Danish town of Kalundborg should be a boom town, as the main manufacturing site for the weight loss drug Wegovy. The pharmaceutical company which makes it, Novo Nordisk, is the most valuable in Europe and has invested $8.5 billion dollars in a new plant there. Despite this economic bounty, Kalundborg’s schools are underperforming and entertainment opportunities are limited. Many young keen people say it’s peaceful but dull and can’t wait to get out to study and work in bigger cities like the capital, Copenhagen. Can the mayor persuade people to move and live there long term?
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I'm Hedina Amin Aziz and in this edition of Assignment.
I'm in Kalonbo in Denmark.
You may never have heard of Kalombo, but the pharmaceutical drug it's making is taking the world by storm.
In a small Danish town, something big is brewing.
And it's not a new plant for its internationally famous beer Carlsberg.
I'm in Kallenborg, home to just 16,000 people, but also one of Europe's biggest building sites.
Callonbau has been producing drugs for the pharmaceutical industry for more than 50 years.
But the soaring demand for one in particular, the weight loss drug Wegovy, has turned the manufacturer into a huge multinational.
This company called Novo Nordisk last year became the most valuable firm in Europe, with the stock price value of an eye watering half a trillion dollars.
But this program is not about the company nor its products.
It's about what happens when a small industrial town gets a huge new plant requiring thousands of workers from around the world, which will dwarf everything else around it.
My name is Martin Dam.
I'm the mayor of the municipality of Kalmborg.
I have a lot of cranes in my back and the area it covers equals more than 236 football pitches.
So it's a big area.