Weight-loss drugmaker Novo Nordisk slims sales forecast

Danish drugmaker Novo Nordisk, known for its blockbuster diabetes and weight-loss treatments Ozempic and Wegovy, cut its annual sales forecast on Wednesday, citing a decline in its US market share.

Novo Nordisk blamed the revised outlook on competition from copycat versions of its popular GLP-1 injections made in US pharmacies -- a practice known as compounding.

The company said it now expects sales growth of 13 to 21 percent in 2025, down from a previous forecast of 16 to 24 percent.

"We have reduced our full-year outlook due to lower-than-planned branded GLP-1 penetration, which is impacted by the rapid expansion of compounding in the US," Novo Nordisk chief executive Lars Fruergaard Jorgensen said.

"We are actively focused on preventing unlawful and unsafe compounding and on efforts to expand patient access to our GLP-1 treatments," he said in a statement.

US pharmacies had been allowed to make their own version of Wegovy and Ozempic due to a shortage of the drugs.

But US regulators ruled in February that the shortage had ended and ordered pharmacies to discontinue making the compounded versions.

Novo Nordisk is also facing competition from US rival Eli Lilly, which makes the anti-obesity injection Zepbound.

Novo Nordisk's shares tumbled last month after Eli Lilly announced a successful clinical trial of diabetes and obesity treatment orforglipron.

The Danish group also released first-quarter results on Wednesday showing a net profit of 29 billion kroner ($4.4 billion), 14 percent higher than the same period last year and better than expected by analysts.

Sales rose 19 percent to 78 billion kroner in the January-to-March period.

Source: AFP