KALUGA, April 10. /TASS/. Novo Nordisk, a Danish global healthcare company specializing in diabetes care, announced on Friday the opening of an insulin manufacturing facility in central Russia’s Kaluga region.

Hans Kennet Mortensen, branch director of Kaluga Novo Nordisk, told TASS that the total sum of investment into the manufacturing site amounted to $100 million, but declined to specify the projected volume of insulin production there on grounds of commercial confidentiality.

A statement posted on the company’s official website on Friday said the new facility would focus on the production of insulin cartridges and prefilled insulin injection pens for distribution on Russia's market.

"The manufacturing facility in Kaluga is a sign of our long-term commitment to people with diabetes in Russia, where close to 10 million people have the disease according to local studies," Novo Nordisk CEO Lars Rebien Sorensen said on the site.

"With our investment in local manufacturing, we ensure availability of high-quality modern insulins to the people with diabetes in Russia who rely on our products every day," Sorensen added.

Anatoly Artamonov, Kaluga region governor, said 450 million euro ($477.8 million) was being invested to form a pharmaceuticals cluster in the region, planned to produce 12% of all pharmaceutical supplies for the Russian market by 2020.

"Opening of Novo Nordisk's manufacturing facility in Kaluga is a sign of confidence in our region, as well as an important stage in the formation of a pharmaceutical cluster in Kaluga," Artamonov said.

"I am convinced that the new facility will have a significant impact on improving the quality of life for people with diabetes in Kaluga as well as in the rest of Russia."

Novo Nordisk, headquartered in Denmark, is a global healthcare company with 90 years of innovation and leadership in diabetes care. According to the company’s official reference material, Novo Nordisk "also has leading positions within haemophilia care, growth hormone therapy and hormone replacement therapy".

Novo Nordisk employs approximately 41,500 employees in 75 countries, and markets its products in more than 180 countries.