Flags with the logos of Danish drugmaker Novo Nordisk, maker of the blockbuster diabetes and weight-loss therapies Ozempic and Wegovy are photos whereas the corporate presents the annual report at Novo Nordisk in Bagsvaerd, Denmark, on February 5, 2025.
Mads Claus Rasmussen | Afp | Getty Pictures
Novo Nordisk on Wednesday reported a better-than-expected rise in first-quarter web revenue however lowered its full-year gross sales progress forecast as copycat drug compounders hit demand for its blockbuster Wegovy weight reduction medication.
The Danish pharmaceutical big’s web revenue got here in at 29.03 billion Danish kroner ($4.4 billion) for the three-month interval to the top of March, forward of the 27.8 billion Danish kroner forecast by analysts in an LSEG ballot.
Shares of Novo Nordisk rose 2.5% shortly after the market open Wednesday.
Gross sales of the corporate’s common Wegovy weight problems drug rose 83% yearly at fixed trade charges to 17.36 billion Danish kroner, barely under the 18.51 billion Danish kroner anticipated by analysts in a Factset ballot Tuesday.
General revenues at Novo Nordisk — which additionally produces diabetes and uncommon illness therapies — rose 18% to 78.09 billion Danish kroner versus an anticipated 78.18 million Danish kroner.
First-quarter gross sales of diabetes remedy Ozempic got here in at 32.72 billion Danish kroner in comparison with forecasts of 31.5 billion Danish kroner.
For 2025, the corporate now sees gross sales progress of 13% to 21% at fixed trade charges, under the 16% to 24% beforehand forecast in February. Working revenue progress is forecast at 16% to 24%, versus 19% to 27% beforehand.
Novo Nordisk CEO Lars Fruergaard Jørgensen attributed the diminished forecast to rising competitors from compounded weight reduction medication within the U.S.
“Within the first quarter of 2025, we delivered 18% gross sales progress and continued to broaden the attain of our modern GLP-1 therapies,” Jørgensen mentioned in an announcement.
“Nonetheless, we have now diminished our full-year outlook as a result of lowerthan-planned branded GLP-1 penetration, which is impacted by the fast growth of compounding within the U.S.”
U.S. compounding pharmacies had been permitted to make authorized copies of Novo’s Wegovy and diabetes drug Ozempic below a drug scarcity ruling by the Meals and Drug Administration (FDA).
The FDA in February declared that scarcity over, giving compounding pharmacies till Might 22 to stop promoting copies of the drug. Nonetheless, Jørgensen reiterated Wednesday that the corporate would pursue firms that proceed to unlawfully distribute such copycat medication.
Competitors heats up
The outcomes come amid runaway demand for the drug maker’s blockbuster GLP-1 weight reduction therapies, which work by mimicking a hormone known as glucagon-like peptide-1 to suppress urge for food.
Nonetheless, the corporate has struggled to shake unfavorable sentiment following a sequence of disappointing trial outcomes for its next-generation weight problems drug candidate CagriSema.
Novo Nordisk confirmed Wednesday that it plans to file for regulatory approval of CagriSema within the first quarter of 2026. In the meantime, it has utilized for regulatory U.S. approval of an oral model of its present semaglutide remedy, which it mentioned has the potential to be “the primary oral GLP-1 remedy for weight problems.”
Competitors is heating up within the weight reduction drug market, with pharma companies together with Roche, AstraZeneca and AbbVie all at the moment creating potential new candidates.
Novo’s key U.S. rival Eli Lilly on Thursday reported an expectation-beating 45% rise in first-quarter gross sales, although revenues for its common weight-loss drug Zepbound got here in barely decrease than anticipated on decrease drug pricing. The U.S. drugmaker additionally lowered its full-year revenue steerage as a result of expenses associated to a current most cancers remedy deal, sending shares decrease.
