Novo Nordisk shares surged after strong demand for its new weight-loss pill helped the Danish drugmaker beat quarterly profit forecasts and raise its full-year outlook amid intensifying rivalry with Eli Lilly<\/p>\n
Novo Nordisk shares surged on Wednesday after the Danish drugmaker beat first-quarter profit forecasts and raised its full-year outlook, signalling renewed momentum in the booming obesity-drug market amid strong demand for its newly launched weight-loss pill in the United States.<\/p>\n
The company, once Europe\u2019s most valuable listed firm thanks to blockbuster obesity treatments such as Ozempic and Wegovy, has spent much of the past year under pressure as intensifying competition from US rival Eli Lilly, disappointing pipeline results and slowing sales growth wiped hundreds of billions of dollars off its market value.<\/p>\n
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But Wednesday\u2019s earnings offered investors a positive surprise.<\/p>\n
Novo shares rose more than 5 per cent after the company reported stronger-than-expected sales of its oral Wegovy pill, which launched in the United States in January.<\/p>\n
The company said prescriptions for the pill reached around 1.3 million during the first quarter, with more than 2 million prescriptions filled since launch \u2014 making it the strongest GLP-1 drug launch by volume in the US market, according to chief executive Mike Doustdar.<\/p>\n
Sales of the Wegovy pill totalled 2.26 billion Danish crowns in the quarter, nearly double analyst expectations.<\/p>\n
The strong performance helped Novo post adjusted operating profit of 32.86 billion Danish crowns ($5.16 billion), ahead of analyst forecasts of 28.74 billion crowns. Adjusted group sales came in at 70.06 billion crowns, also beating market estimates.<\/p>\n
Novo also narrowed its projected decline for full-year adjusted sales and operating profit to between 4 per cent and 12 per cent at constant exchange rates, improving from its earlier forecast of a 5 per cent to 13 per cent fall.<\/p>\n
The rebound comes after a prolonged slump for Novo shares, which are still down nearly 40 per cent over the past year even after the latest rally. Investor sentiment had weakened amid concerns that the company was losing ground in the obesity-drug race to Lilly, whose own blockbuster treatments have continued to gain traction.<\/p>\n
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Lilly last month launched its own obesity pill, Foundayo, intensifying competition in what is rapidly becoming the next major battleground in the weight-loss drug industry.<\/p>\n
Doustdar said Novo had benefited from growing US enthusiasm around peptide-based therapies, referring to the wider wellness trend surrounding injectable and oral peptide treatments.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe have now been competing with \u2060our competitor for about a month… and so far, so good,\u201d he told journalists during an earnings call.<\/p>\n
The company has increasingly relied on lower-priced self-pay channels in the United States after price cuts on injectable Wegovy last year squeezed margins. Novo said more than half of Wegovy sales in the US now come through self-pay channels, compared with just over 10 per cent a year ago.<\/p>\n
Novo is also preparing to expand the Wegovy pill internationally in the second half of 2026 despite uncertainty surrounding US President Donald Trump\u2019s proposed \u201cmost-favoured-nation\u201d drug pricing policy, which could tie US medicine prices to lower international rates.<\/p>\n
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The company has already submitted the pill to the European Medicines Agency and other regulators for approval.<\/p>\n
With inputs from agencies.<\/p>\n
First Published:
\nMay 07, 2026, 06:35 IST<\/p>\n
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