Novo Nordisk failed to anticipate the huge demand for their Wegovy weight loss drug and this lead to chaos across health care. Government units, pharmacies, insurers, patients, and doctors were all roiled:
How Novo Nordisk misread the US market for its weight loss sensation
By Jacob Gronholt-Pedersen and Maggie Fick - July 1, 2025Summary
* Novo Nordisk faced internal warnings about Wegovy launch readiness
* Lilly's Zepbound surpasses Wegovy in new prescriptions
* Novo's pricing strategy drew backlash from insurers and patientsCOPENHAGEN, July 1 (Reuters) - Novo Nordisk's top executives ignored internal warnings that the company was not sufficiently prepared for the launch of its weight-loss drug Wegovy, leaving the Danish drugmaker in a more vulnerable position when rival Eli Lilly entered the market, six former employees involved in the discussions told Reuters.
Novo has enjoyed a tremendous windfall of $46 billion (292 billion Danish crowns) in net profit since mid-2021, when Wegovy became the first highly effective obesity treatment approved in the United States. But Lilly's Zepbound therapy outstripped Wegovy in weekly new prescriptions this year and the company struggles to convince investors it can remain competitive in the weight-loss boom.
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In response, Novo is reorganizing its leadership team following the surprise ouster of Chief Executive Lars Fruergaard Jorgensen. Other key executives had already stepped down, including U.S. chief Doug Langa, who, according to two former employees, had insisted on a commercial launch very soon after Wegovy's U.S. approval.The sources spoke to Reuters under the condition of anonymity to speak frankly about their former employer.
In heated internal discussions, sales and marketing executives urged Langa to first secure more supply and health insurance coverage, the two former employees said. Without robust coverage, many patients could not afford Wegovy's monthly cost of up to $1,300. Lilly wasn't expected to enter the market for at least two years and Novo could have been better prepared, they said.
Langa hewed to guidance from company headquarters in Copenhagen, which assumed much more modest sales through 2025, the two sources said. While demand for Wegovy proved to be unprecedented in a global obesity epidemic, the Novo view was too conservative based on its own indicators, they said.
"The forecasting was way, way off," said one of the sources. Sales and marketing executives said at the time "we've got a lot of research that tells us this is going to take off like crazy. We need to wait until the pharmacies are stocked and ready to go. But Doug Langa said ... 'no, we're going to launch.'"
Langa, who continues to work for Novo in an advisory role, did not reply to a Reuters request for comment.
Details of Novo's internal discussions have not been previously reported. Jorgensen and other executives such as Chief Financial Officer Karsten Munk Knudsen have said publicly they were surprised by the overwhelming demand at Wegovy's launch.
A Novo spokesperson said the company "utilized available data and modelling forecasts to predict demand" for Wegovy and is committed to improving access. The drugmaker has since secured wider insurance coverage and offered discounts to reduce out-of-pocket costs.
Soon after launch, Novo faced repeated supply shortages, leaving patients scrambling to get their next doses and preventing others from starting treatment. High out-of-pocket costs pushed many to the compounding market for cheaper copies.
"Novo didn't understand the market they were building and were so inflexible in their approach," said Evan Seigerman, an analyst at BMO Capital Markets. At a recent analyst and investor meeting, "every time someone would bring up something that Lilly had done that was kind of creative or strategic, (Jorgensen)'s like, 'Well I don't know if we can do that.'"
'CAPPED' LAUNCHES
Clinical trial data showed in 2018 that Wegovy could help people lose about 16% of their body weight, a major advance for the more than 100 million American adults living with obesity. Other signs suggesting massive demand for Wegovy included physician feedback and prescribing data for Ozempic, Novo's diabetes drug that contains the same active ingredient as Wegovy, four of the former employees said.
Yet Novo stuck by its "strategic aspiration" from late 2019, that annual obesity sales would double by 2025 due to Wegovy.
The company reported obesity sales of 5.7 billion Danish crowns ($895 million) in 2019 from Saxenda, a far less effective weight-loss drug. In 2024, obesity sales had already reached 65.1 billion crowns ($10.2 billion).
"Even though they saw the data, even though they heard all the feedback from the market, they never reflected it in the forecasts," said a third source, a former senior manager. "Many of us said again and again (internally) that this is going to be huge."
Analysts had also questioned the forecasts when Novo announced them during a 2019 investor conference.
"You're sitting on the biggest product launch you've ever done," said Keyur Parekh, at the time a Goldman Sachs analyst, according to a recording of the meeting. "Why isn't the board pushing you more towards a higher aspirational target?"
Novo repeated the pattern in other countries, introducing"volume-capped launches", opens new tab with minimal supplies. Only Denmark, its home market, was spared, one of the former employees said.
Novo prioritised supply for high-price markets like Japan and the United Arab Emirates over key European countries where doctors influence global prescribing trends, the source said.
Lilly entered with ample supply; it quickly became the dominant player in parts of Europe and the Middle East, said two of the former employees.
Novo's spokesperson said the company remains a leader in obesity treatments, but did not comment on market share estimates.
PRICING MISSTEP
Novo also drew backlash from insurers, doctors and patients for launching Wegovy in the U.S. at more than $1,300 per month, about $350 more than Ozempic. Lilly priced Zepbound at $1,080, similar to its diabetes drug Mounjaro, which uses the same active ingredient.
The U.S. drugmaker offered steep discounts, including out-of-pocket prices starting at $349, opens new tab through its LillyDirect pharmacy for some uninsured patients.
One of the former employees said Novo was reluctant to offer meaningful rebates to pharmacy benefit managers (PBMs), who negotiate on behalf of health insurers and employers.
Lilly entered a market where "payers were frustrated with the way Novo negotiated the pricing," the employee said. "They were looking for some relief on the pricing, which Novo wasn't giving them."
"I felt like during this whole journey, Novo is more conservative compared to Lilly," said Lukas Leu of Bellevue Asset Management in Switzerland, citing how Novo entered the direct-to-consumer pharmacy market later than Lilly. Leu's fund holds both Novo and Lilly shares. "And Lilly is more bold. Lilly is just going in there."
The buzzards come home to roost:
Wegovy maker Novo's profit warning triggers $70 billion share rout
By Jacob Gronholt-Pedersen, Stine Jacobsen and Maggie Fick - July 29, 2025Summary
* Novo Nordisk appoints new CEO Doustdar amid sales concerns
* Shares drop as much as 29.8% after profit warning
* Doustdar faces challenge to revive US market performanceCOPENHAGEN, July 29 (Reuters) - Investors wiped $70 billion off Novo Nordisk's market value on Tuesday after the maker of weight-loss drug Wegovy issued a profit warning and named a new CEO, as it battles rising competition in the obesity drug market.
Novo named Maziar Mike Doustdar as its new chief executive, turning to a veteran insider to revive sales and reassure investors rattled by fears the Danish drugmaker is losing ground in the obesity drug race it started.
Doustdar's appointment failed to stem a stock market rout sparked by Novo slashing its outlook for 2025 sales growth to between 8% and 14%, from between 13% and 21% previously. Its shares plunged nearly 30% before paring some losses to trade down over 20% by mid-afternoon. The shares are now down 44% this year.
"The magnitude of the guidance cut is a shocker," Markus Manns, a portfolio manager at mutual fund firm Union Investment, a Novo shareholder, told Reuters, adding that Novo's issues went deeper than "compounded" copycats to Wegovy.
Compounded drugs are custom-made medicines that are based on the same ingredients as branded drugs.
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' for patients needing custom doses or formulations.
The company said in a statement that it cut its 2025 sales outlook due to lower growth expectations in the second half in the U.S., both for Wegovy and Ozempic in the GLP-1 diabetes market.
The drugmaker, which became Europe's most valuable listed company following the launch of Wegovy in 2021, is now facing a reckoning as it looks to turn things around after the abrupt removal in May of CEO Lars Fruergaard Jorgensen.
At its peak in June 2024, Novo was worth as much as $615 billion, but its shares have plunged on investor concerns about the company's experimental drug pipeline and its ability to navigate challenges in the U.S. market.
"The stock has gone from being a market darling to one of its biggest letdowns," said Angelo Meda, portfolio manager and head of equities at Banor SIM in Milan, which has a small Novo stake. "The biggest concern is the illegal channel siphoning away market share - something that's hard to quantify. Rebuilding trust will take time."
NEW CEO AN INSIDER
Doustdar, an Iranian-born, Austrian national, who grew up in the United States, joined Novo in 1992 and will take on the new role on August 7.
He currently serves as vice president for international operations, a role he took after leading the company's businesses first in the Middle East and then in Southeast Asia, Novo said.
"We need to increase the sense of urgency and execute differently," Doustdar told investors and analysts on a call. "The fact that my announcement comes right after the guidance update, just makes the mandate ahead even more clear."
Some analysts and investors had argued that Novo should select an American, or a person with extensive experience working in the United States as its next CEO. Novo has lost its first-mover advantage in the United States this year to U.S. rival Eli Lilly.
The new chief executive's most urgent challenge, according to investors and analysts, is to revive Novo's performance in the United States, the largest market by far for weight-loss drugs and where they are most profitable.
Novo launched its weight-loss drug Wegovy nearly two and a half years before Eli Lilly's Zepbound. But Zepbound prescriptions surpassed those of Wegovy this year by more than 100,000 a week.
In May, Novo said it expected many of the roughly one million U.S. patients using compounded GLP-1 drugs to switch to branded treatments after a U.S. Food and Drug Administration ban on compounded copies of Wegovy took effect on May 22.
"Unfortunately, our latest market research indicates that has not happened," Chief Financial Officer Karsten Munk Knudsen said on a call with analysts on Tuesday. One million or more U.S. patients are still using compounded GLP-1s, he said.
Novo has stepped up its dialogue with the U.S. FDA to limit unlawful compounding of its drugs, the head of U.S. operations David Moore added on the call. "Compounding continues to be an issue that we have to address," Moore said.
Novo Nordisk is clearly under a lot of market pressure to right its ship:
Drugmaker Novo Nordisk freezes hiring for non-critical jobs
By Jacob Gronholt-Pedersen and Louise Rasmusse - August 20, 2025COPENHAGEN, Aug 20 (Reuters) - Wegovy-maker Novo Nordisk has implemented a global hiring freeze covering job roles that are not critical for its business, the company said on Wednesday.
The company is battling competition from copycat versions of its blockbuster Wegovy obesity drug this year and could face layoffs as it battles rising pressure from its main rival Eli Lilly.
"We currently have a hiring freeze in non-business critical areas," the company said in an emailed statement, without elaborating.
Investors in July wiped $70 billion off the drugmaker's market value, after Novo - which became Europe's most valuable listed company following the launch of Wegovy in 2021 - issued a profit warning and named a company veteran as its new CEO.
The new CEO, Mike Doustdar, who took the helm on August 7, told Danish broadcaster TV2 on his first day in office that he would look for cost savings throughout the company and also consider layoffs.
Ozempic Half Off!!!
Novo Nordisk, GoodRx selling Ozempic at half cost for customers paying cash
by Joseph Choi - August 19, 2025Novo Nordisk and GoodRx announced a partnership this week to sell products Ozempic and Wegovy at half their normal cost to patients who pay for the medications with cash.
Starting this week, customers will be able to buy a month’s supply of Novo Nordisk’s semaglutide pen products for $499 through GoodRx. The list price for a monthly supply of a product like Ozempic is normally around $1,000 or more without insurance.
“Demand for GLP-1 medications is at an all-time high, but too many Americans still face barriers accessing them,” GoodRx CEO and President Wendy Barnes said in a statement.
“By partnering with Novo Nordisk, we’re taking a significant step forward in making these innovative brand-name treatments more accessible for millions of people who need them,” Barnes added. “It’s a powerful example of how the GoodRx platform can deliver savings at scale—bridging gaps in coverage and ensuring more people can get the care they deserve.”
This is the most recent in similar moves Novo Nordisk has made to make its popular diabetes and weight loss medication more widely available.
Earlier this year, the company announced a direct-to-patient program called NovoCare Pharmacy for uninsured and underinsured individuals who can pay $499 a month for Wegovy. Novo Nordisk also partnered with online telehealth companies like Ro and LifeMD to sell its pens at the same price point.
The telehealth company Hims & Hers was also originally included in the partnership, but Novo Nordisk ended it after accusing the company of illegally selling compounded versions of semaglutide. Hims & Hers maintains it is providing personalized, compounded products within regulatory guidelines.
“Improving access to effective FDA-approved treatment is central to our mission, and our collaboration with GoodRx allows us to reach those who seek savings and support from their trusted and established platform,” Dave Moore, executive vice president of U.S. operations of Novo Nordisk, said in a statement.
“This initiative enables us to meet GoodRx patients where they are with our authentic GLP-1 medicines in addition to supporting the launch of the new Ozempic self-pay offer for type 2 diabetes patients at an unprecedented price.”
Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), a prominent critic of high drug costs, called the announcement a “modest step forward.”
“Novo Nordisk’s move to cut the price of Ozempic to $499 for the uninsured is a modest step forward, but let’s not forget,” Sanders said on social platform X, “Ozempic costs just $59 in Germany while it costs less than $5 to make. The U.S. must no longer pay the highest prices in the world for prescription drugs.”
Bernie is beginning to sound like President Trump!
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