By Jacob Gronholt-Pedersen and Maggie Fick
COPENHAGEN (Reuters) -Novo Nordisk is to cut costs as the Wegovy-maker battles competition from rival Eli Lilly and copycat versions of its obesity drug, with lower growth expected for its treatments in the second half of the year.
The drugmaker, which was Europe’s most valuable company worth some $650 billion last year on the back of sales of its blockbuster weight-loss drug, is facing a pivotal moment as competition intensifies.
The Danish drugmaker warned on profits last week and replaced its CEO, which has wiped $95 billion off its market value.
The company repeated its full-year guidance on Wednesday, after last week’s profit warning reduced its 2025 sales outlook and named veteran insider Maziar Mike Doustdar to take over from CEO Lars Fruergaard Jorgensen.
“We have lowered our full-year outlook due to lower growth expectations for our GLP-1 treatments in the second half of 2025,” outgoing CEO Jorgensen said in a statement.
“As a result, we are taking measures to sharpen our commercial execution further, and ensure efficiencies in our cost base while continuing to invest in future growth.”
Doustdar, who will take the helm on Thursday, will face tough questions from investors about how it can stay competitive in the booming weight-loss drug market against U.S. rival Eli Lilly and a wave of “compounded” copycat versions.
Novo has been hit by copycats of its GLP-1 drugs Wegovy for weight-loss and Ozempic for diabetes. U.S. law bars pharmacies from replicating approved drugs, but has allowed “compounding”, or mixing of medications, for patients needing custom doses or formulations.
Sales of Wegovy rose 67% to 19.53 billion crowns in the second quarter from a year ago, the company said.
Novo reported second-quarter sales of 76.86 billion Danish crowns ($11.92 billion), up 18% from last year, below analysts’ initial expectations.
It confirmed a 2025 sales growth forecast of between 8% and 14%, which was cut in a profit warning last week from the previous 13%-21%. It was the second time this year that the company cut its sales forecast.
Second-quarter earnings before interest and taxation (EBIT) stood at 33.45 billion crowns, up 29% from a year ago.
(Reporting by Jacob Gronholt-Pedersen and Maggie Fick; Editing by Adam Jourdan, Terje Solsvik and Jane Merriman)
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