Novo Nordisk stocks plunged over 20% on Tuesday after the corporate named a brand new CEO and diminished its benefit expectancies, mentioning weaker gross sales of its in style weight-loss drug Wegovy because of pageant from copycat medicine.
In a observation on Tuesday, Novo Nordisk mentioned it expects its gross sales for 2025 to develop 8%-14%, down from projections of 13%-21% in Might. It additionally diminished its expectancies for working benefit enlargement to ten%-16%, down from 16%-24% in Might.
The up to date outlook “displays the continual use of compounded GLP-1s, slower-than-expected marketplace growth and pageant,” the corporate mentioned. Glucagon-like peptide-1 agonists (GLP-1s), a category of substances used to regulate diabetes, have upended the weight-loss business.
The Danish pharmaceutical corporate additionally introduced on Tuesday the appointment of Maziar Mike Doustdar as president and CEO. Doustdar, who has labored at Novo Nordisk for over 30 years, will take the helm beginning on Aug. 7.
Doustdar will be successful Lars Fruergaard Jorgensen, who introduced his departure as CEO of Novo Nordisk in Might, following a steep decline within the corporate’s percentage value, which has dropped just about 37% because the get started of this yr.Â
Reached for remark, a Novo Nordisk spokesperson mentioned they didn’t have anything else further to percentage prior to the corporate’s income name, which is scheduled for Wednesday, Aug. 6.
Copycat medicine pervade marketplace
Whilst world gross sales of Wegovy are rising, gross sales of the weight-loss drug are anticipated to weaken in sure markets because of larger pageant from compounded variations of the drug.
Compounded weight-loss medicine have the similar lively components as Wegovy and different in style manufacturers equivalent to Ozempic, and are used as substitutes when the name-brand medicine don’t seem to be to be had. On the other hand, the Meals and Drug Management (FDA) in April mentioned there is not any longer a scarcity of GLP-1s and ordered compounding pharmacies to prevent promoting their copycat variations of the preferred weight-loss medicine.
Regardless of efforts to stymie them, then again, compounded variations of the medication proceed to penetrate the marketplace, giving shoppers a inexpensive method to name-brands like Wegovy, which is able to value greater than $1000 according to package deal for the ones with out insurance coverage.
In June, Novo Nordisk ended its partnership with Hims & Hers Well being over claims that the web drug store was once promoting pretend variations of Wegovy, a transfer Novo Nordisk mentioned “put affected person protection in danger.”
CBS Information scientific contributor Dr. CĂ©line Gounder advised CBS Information final yr that there’s no longer a large number of oversight over the compounded drug marketplace, and that there’s a wide selection in relation to the standard and chance related to every drug.
Novo Nordisk mentioned it’s pursuing more than one avenues to “offer protection to sufferers from knockoff ‘semaglutide’ medicine” together with litigation. Semaglutide is the lively factor present in Wegovy and Ozempic. Â
“Novo Nordisk is deeply involved that, with out competitive intervention by way of federal and state regulators and legislation enforcement, sufferers will proceed to be uncovered to the numerous dangers posed by way of knockoff ‘semaglutide’ medicine made with illicit or inauthentic international lively pharmaceutical components,” the corporate mentioned in its observation.
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