Dec 18 (Reuters) - Novo Holdings, the controlling

shareholder of Novo Nordisk, on Wednesday sealed its

$16.5 billion deal for Catalent ( CTLT ), as the Danish

drugmaker looks to boost supplies of its widely popular

weight-loss drug Wegovy.

Novo Nordisk will take control of three fill-finish

facilities of the contract drug manufacturer in Italy, Belgium,

and the U.S. as part of the deal. These sites will then be fully

utilized by the company to fill its injection pens.

Novo Holdings agreed to buy Catalent ( CTLT ) in February, and

several U.S. consumer groups and two large labor unions in

October urged the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) to block the

deal.

However, the FTC did not challenge the deal, and earlier

this month European antitrust regulators also cleared the

transaction after they found there were sufficient competing

alternatives in the market.

Novo Nordisk launched Wegovy in the U.S. in 2021 and in 15

other countries since then.

The drug, chemically known as semaglutide, is part of a

top-selling class of drugs designed to mimic the action of the

GLP-1 hormone, which helps regulate blood sugar, slow digestion

and decrease appetite.

The soaring demand for these popular medicines has led to

tight supply and companies, including Eli Lilly ( LLY ), which

makes the rival drug Zepbound, have been working to ramp up

production.

Analysts estimate the obesity drug market could be worth as

much as $150 billion globally per year in the next decade.

Novo Holdings and Catalent ( CTLT ) on Saturday disclosed that all

regulatory conditions to close the deal were fulfilled.