Novo Nordisk Reports Strong Wegovy Sales

By Maggie Fick and Jacob Gronholt-Pedersen
COPENHAGEN (Reuters) – Novo Nordisk on Wednesday reported better-than-expected quarterly sales of its popular Wegovy weight-loss drug and narrowed its 2024 outlook for the year, reflecting growing competition in the fast-growing obesity drug market.

Sales of Wegovy totaled 17.3 billion Danish crowns ($2.49 billion) in the third quarter, ahead of the 15.9 billion expected by analysts in a company-compiled consensus and up 48% from the previous quarter.

The Wegovy sales beat may reassure investors worried that the Danish drugmaker was losing its lead to U.S. rival Eli Lilly (NYSE: LLY). Second-quarter sales had fallen short of analyst estimates.

Its shares were up 5% in pre-market trading.

Total group sales, which rose 21% to 71.3 billion crowns, still came below the 72.3 billion crowns expected by analysts.

Novo Nordisk (NYSE: NVO), a first-mover in an obesity drug market projected to be worth about $150 billion by the early 2030s, is now competing directly with Eli Lilly, which launched its drug Zepbound in December last year.

> "Wegovy continues to gain momentum and clearly exceeds expectations in the quarter," said Sydbank analyst Soren Lontoft Hansen, compensating for weaker diabetes sales.

Wegovy and Zepbound belong to a class of drugs that mimic an intestinal hormone called GLP-1, either on their own or in combination with compounds that target a second hormone to create a sense of fullness and reduce appetite.

The Denmark-based company now expects sales growth this year of between 23% and 27% in local currencies, a slight adjustment from the previously guided range of 22% to 28% growth, which reflects ongoing pricing pressure on its obesity and diabetes drugs and the costs of investing in expanding output.

Operating profit growth for this year is forecasted to be between 21% and 27% in local currencies, compared to a previous forecast of 20% to 28%.

Novo Nordisk has twice raised its sales growth outlook for 2024 since the beginning of the year. However, in August, the company did cut its expectations for operating profit growth.

> "The sales growth is driven by increasing demand for our GLP-1-based diabetes and obesity treatments, and we are serving more patients than ever before," said CEO Lars Fruergaard Jorgensen in a statement.

Operating profit between July and September rose 26% to 33.8 billion Danish crowns ($4.86 billion), compared to the 33.6 billion forecast by analysts.

($1 = 6.9430 Danish crowns)