Novo Nordisk hits high with Wegovy sales, forecasts growth slowdown

DENMARK – Novo Nordisk’s obesity treatment Wegovy has delivered impressive sales in the last quarter of 2024, helping the company achieve a 30% growth in overall revenue.

Wegovy (semaglutide) saw its sales more than double to DKK 19.87 billion (US $2.78 billion), but this figure fell slightly short of expectations.

Despite the strong performance, Novo Nordisk warns that the rapid growth pace is unlikely to continue into 2025.

Looking ahead, the company anticipates tougher competition and increased pricing pressure in both diabetes and obesity care.

As a result, Novo Nordisk expects sales growth to slow slightly, forecasting an 18-24% increase in 2025, down from 26% in 2024.

Wegovy, alongside Ozempic (another semaglutide-based drug for diabetes), has been the primary driver of Novo Nordisk’s exceptional growth in recent years.

The popularity of these GLP-1 medications, known for their ability to aid in rapid weight loss, has led to strong demand.

However, competition is heating up, especially with the rise of Eli Lilly’s tirzepatide-based treatments, such as Mounjaro for diabetes and Zepbound for obesity.

This, combined with the likely entrance of new players into the weight loss market, could affect future sales.

Novo Nordisk also faces challenges with supply issues at some of its manufacturing sites. Despite significant investments in expanding production capacity, the company expects periodic supply constraints and drug shortages to continue across various products and regions.

CEO Lars Fruergaard Jørgensen expressed satisfaction with the company’s 2024 performance, noting that over 45 million people now benefit from Novo Nordisk’s treatments.

The company remains committed to investing in manufacturing capacity, including the recent acquisition of three facilities from Catalent.

For 2025, the focus will shift to advancing new obesity treatments, such as CagriSema (a combination of cagrilintide and semaglutide) and amycretin.

While CagriSema’s Phase 3 trial results disappointed in December, leading to a drop in the company’s valuation, Novo Nordisk saw a recovery last month following positive Phase 1b/2a data from amycretin.

Following the release of the fourth-quarter results, Novo Nordisk’s shares rose more than 3%, pushing the company’s valuation to over US $286 billion.