LONDON, April 2 (Reuters) - Novo Holdings, the

controlling shareholder of obesity drugmaker Novo Nordisk

, nearly doubled annual income and investment returns

to a record 8 billion euros ($8.66 billion) in 2024, it said on

Wednesday.

Fuelled by dividends from blockbuster weight-loss drug Wegovy

and diabetes treatment Ozempic, Novo Holdings is a life sciences

investment powerhouse that manages assets for the Novo Nordisk

Foundation, one of the world's biggest philanthropic bodies.

"2024 was a very strong year for Novo Holdings, with our

investment portfolio delivering its best ever performance," CEO

Kasim Kutay said in a statement.

Kutay said the company would focus this year on expanding

its presence in Asia, with the opening of an office in Mumbai,

India, following significant investments it already made in the

country last year.

Its portfolio comprises investments in life sciences and a

broad range of assets - equities, bonds, real estate,

infrastructure, and private equity. It has controlling stakes in

Novo Nordisk, in which it has 77% of voting shares, and

Novonesis.

In 2024, it invested 4.6 billion euros in life sciences

targeting cancer, obesity, and neurodegenerative disorders,

adding 43 new companies while making 27 exits.

Novo Holdings' biggest acquisition by far last year was of

pharma manufacturing and services company Catalent for $16.5

billion, the largest healthcare buyout in 2024.

It subsequently sold three Catalent manufacturing plants to

Novo Nordisk for $11 billion to boost Wegovy production.

But Novo Holdings' total assets under management dropped

slightly to 142 billion euros in 2024, from 149 billion in 2023,

driven by a decline in the market value of Novo Nordisk.

Its market value has roughly halved since July 2024, partly

because of investor worries that it has lost its first-mover

advantage in the fiercely competitive obesity drug market to

U.S. rival Eli Lilly ( LLY ).

($1 = 0.9240 euros)