(Bloomberg) -- Police found no indication of criminal activity linked to a fire at Novo Nordisk A/S’s manufacturing hub in Denmark, saying factors including the weather and smoking may have contributed to the blaze in May.
Authorities were unable to establish the exact cause of the May 16 fire at Novo’s Kalundborg site, Per Severs, a local police commissioner, said by phone. The blaze caused extensive damage to the roof of a utility building that’s under construction as part of the drugmaker’s more than $8 billion expansion at the location.
The Danish pharmaceutical company has launched an unprecedented construction program to expand capacity for diabetes drug Ozempic and obesity medicine Wegovy amid surging demand.
“We can only establish that there has been a fire, and we conclude our investigation without making a firm conclusion on the cause,” Severs said, adding that nothing indicated a criminal act.
The fire may have been caused by “combination of various circumstances,” including weather and smoking, he said. The case, which was closed in mid-July, is being reviewed by prosecutors, Severs added.
Novo has been tightening safety at its construction sites after at least four fires in its home country in the span of several months.
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