Sept 20 (Reuters) - Swiss medical technology company Ypsomed announced on Wednesday a long-term supply deal with Novo Nordisk for autoinjectors, the latest sign of how the Danish drugmaker's weight-loss drug business is a boon for pharmaceutical services companies.

Ypsomed said it would expand its manufacturing capacities over the coming years, with Novo Nordisk contributing a significant part of the investment for the additional production infrastructure.

The autoinjectors will be used by people self-administering drugs to treat various metabolic indications, Ypsomed said.

As a result of the deal, "significant capacity" for manufacturing its autoinjectors will be available for Novo in 2025.

Ypsomed shares surged 5% after market open.

The agreement will result in Ypsomed manufacturing autoinjectors for Novo's “second-generation GLP-1s”, which are currently in clinical trials, Ypsomed’s head of investor relations Thomas Kutt told Reuters by phone after the announcement.

“We will deliver autoinjectors for this upcoming device, which may be available in two or three years on the market,” he said.

Wegovy is part of a class of drugs known as GLP-1s used to treat diabetes and obesity. In the United States, where it was launched in June 2021, it is the first and so far only one of a group of newer and more effective GLP-1 drugs approved specifically for weight loss. Novo did not immediately respond to a comment request but does not typically comment on its relationships with contract manufacturers.

Novo has been unable to keep pace with demand for its hugely popular weight-loss drug Wegovy, which uses autoinjectors - self-injection pens that deliver doses of medicine - in the five markets where it is available: the United States and four European countries.

It is racing to boost output by spending billions to build new factories, but also by hiring contract manufacturers for a range of supply chain and production tasks. On Monday, Reuters reported that Novo has hired U.S. private contract manufacturer PCI Pharma Services to handle assembly and packaging of Wegovy. The main companies producing components for self-injection drugs include West Pharmaceuticals, Ypsomed and Gerresheimer, according to a Bernstein research report published in August on the opportunities for pharma services companies as the GLP-1 market booms. (Reporting by Maggie Fick and Louise Breusch Rasmussen, Editing by Rachel More and Hugh Lawson)