Flags with the logos of Danish drugmaker Novo Nordisk, maker of the blockbuster diabetes and weight-loss therapies Ozempic and Wegovy are footage whereas the corporate presents the annual report at Novo Nordisk in Bagsvaerd, Denmark, on February 5, 2025.
Mads Claus Rasmussen | Afp | Getty Pictures
Shares of Novo Nordisk climbed virtually 7% on Wednesday after it mentioned gross sales of its blockbuster Wegovy weight reduction drug had been seen bettering within the second half of the yr as the supply of copycat compounded medication is phased out.
The Danish pharmaceutical large reported lower-than-expected first-quarter gross sales of its flagship weight problems drug and trimmed its full-year gross sales progress forecast as various variations of the drug have eaten away at its U.S. market share.
Nevertheless, CEO Lars Fruergaard Jørgensen advised CNBC that the tip of a drug scarcity ruling by the Meals and Drug Administration (FDA) would permit gross sales to select up once more later within the yr.
“Compounders took part of our enterprise away,” Jørgensen advised CNBC’s Charlotte Reed.
“We now anticipate that compounding might be knocked off, so to say, and we get that enterprise progress going ahead,” he added.
Shares of Novo Nordisk rose 6.77% by 10:20 a.m. London time.
The drugmaker on Wednesday reported a better-than-expected rise in first-quarter internet revenue of 29.03 billion Danish kroner ($4.4 billion) for the three-month interval to the tip of March, forward of the 27.8 billion Danish kroner forecast by analysts in an LSEG ballot.
Gross sales of the corporate’s well-liked Wegovy weight problems drug rose 83% yearly at fixed trade charges to 17.36 billion Danish kroner, coming in barely beneath the 18.51 billion Danish kroner anticipated by analysts in a Factset ballot Tuesday.
Total 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.
For 2025, the corporate mentioned it now sees gross sales progress of 13% to 21% at fixed trade charges, beneath the 16% to 24% beforehand forecast in February. Working revenue progress is forecast at 16% to 24%, versus 19% to 27% beforehand.
Copycat medication
Jørgensen attributed the decreased forecast to rising competitors from compounded weight reduction medication within the U.S. within the early a part of the yr.
“Within the first quarter of 2025, we delivered 18% gross sales progress and continued to develop the attain of our modern GLP-1 therapies,” Jørgensen mentioned in a press release.
“Nevertheless, we have now decreased our full-year outlook because of decrease than-planned branded GLP-1 penetration, which is impacted by the speedy enlargement 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 beneath a drug scarcity ruling by the FDA.
The FDA declared that scarcity over in February, giving compounding pharmacies till Might 22 to stop promoting copies of the drug. As such, Novo mentioned it expects gross sales of compounded options to ease quickly, and reiterated that it would pursue corporations that proceed to unlawfully distribute such copycat medication.
“Following the U.S. FDA removing of semaglutide injectables from the FDA drug scarcity record, the gross sales outlook assumes a discount in sufferers on compounded GLP-1 remedy throughout the second half of 2025,” the corporate mentioned.
Jørgensen additionally pointed to the launch of a new direct-to-consumer on-line pharmacy and partnerships with telehealth suppliers Hims & Hers Well being, Ro and LifeMD, which he mentioned would decrease Wegovy prices and supply a “secure, trusted various” for sufferers who had beforehand been utilizing compounders.
An announcement final week from CVS Well being, which can develop entry to Wegovy for sufferers coated by its pharmacy profit supervisor, Caremark, will solely add to that entry.
“They’ve now excluded the aggressive merchandise, so we have now exclusivity with them,” Jørgensen mentioned. “We didn’t bid for exclusivity. We imagine in open entry, so it was CVS that decided to give attention to Wegovy.”
Competitors heats up
The outcomes come amid runaway demand for the drugmaker’s blockbuster GLP-1 weight reduction therapies, which work by mimicking a hormone known as glucagon-like peptide-1 to suppress urge for food.
Nevertheless, the corporate has struggled to shake unfavorable sentiment following a collection 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 current semaglutide remedy, which it mentioned has the potential to be “the primary oral GLP-1 remedy for weight problems.”
“I am very optimistic on CagriSema,” Jørgensen mentioned. “From the info we have now, CagriSema is the most effective product that has been examined out or is in the marketplace, and we imagine we will get these knowledge even higher.”
Competitors is heating up within the weight reduction drug market, with pharma corporations together with Roche, AstraZeneca and AbbVie all presently 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 well-liked 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 because of costs associated to a latest most cancers remedy deal, sending shares decrease.