By Maggie Fick and Jacob Gronholt-Pedersen
COPENHAGEN (Reuters) -Novo Nordisk reported on Wednesday better-than-expected quarterly gross sales of its in style Wegovy weight-loss drug, reassuring buyers anxious the drugmaker was shedding its lead within the fast-growing weight problems drug market to U.S. rival Eli Lilly (NYSE:).
Shares in Novo Nordisk (NYSE:), a primary mover in an weight problems drug market that some analysts forecast might be price about $150 billion by the early 2030s, rose practically 9% earlier than retreating barely to commerce up 6.4% by 1138 GMT, among the many largest gainers in Europe.
The share value soar added round $40 billion to the corporate’s market worth.
Gross sales of Wegovy totalled 17.3 billion Danish crowns ($2.5 billion) within the third quarter, forward of the 15.9 billion anticipated by analysts in a company-compiled consensus and up 48% from the earlier quarter.
Novo mentioned it has tripled Wegovy manufacturing during the last three years and can proceed to ramp up on the identical tempo.
“We still have a situation where there are far more patients who would like to have the treatment than what both Eli Lilly and we can supply,” CEO Lars Fruergaard Jorgensen informed Reuters.
However complete group gross sales, which rose 21% to 71.3 billion crowns, got here under the 72.3 billion crowns anticipated by analysts because of weaker-than-expected diabetes drug Ozempic gross sales.
The Danish firm mentioned U.S. gross sales progress was damage by the phasing out of rebates – volume-based reductions negotiated by pharmaceutical firms with U.S. pharmacy profit managers – in 2023.
Traders had feared the drugmaker would lower its outlook on Wednesday, so the third-quarter outcomes got here as considerably of a reduction, mentioned Terence McManus, fund supervisor at Switzerland’s Bellevue Asset Administration, which holds Novo shares.
“However, we don’t see these results as an all-clear signal on the stock,” he added, noting the corporate was because of launch knowledge earlier than the top of this 12 months from a late-stage trial of CagriSema, a two-drug mixture weight problems remedy that like Wegovy is injected.
Novo expects CagriSema to result in weight lack of 25%, in contrast with Wegovy’s 15%, a outcome which analysts say is a must-win for Novo’s obesity-tackling funding case.
The Wegovy gross sales beat was a reduction, although pricing stress in the USA was barely worse than they anticipated, analysts mentioned.
Traders have been nervous forward of the outcomes as Novo goes face to face with rival Eli Lilly which launched its drug Zepbound in December final 12 months. Final week, Lilly posted posted outcomes for its weight-loss gross sales that fell in need of expectations.
Wegovy and Zepbound are a part of a category of medicine that mimic an intestinal hormone referred to as GLP-1, both on their very own or together with compounds that concentrate on a second hormone to create a way of fullness and scale back urge for food.
Novo’s main place in weight problems medication, coupled with ferocious demand which has outpaced provides, helped make it Europe’s largest firm by market capitalisation final 12 months. It’s now price $489 billion, however has misplaced 28% of its worth since peaking in June.
OUTLOOK
Jorgensen mentioned the corporate was lifting curbs on Wegovy prescriptions in the USA, and that the slower tempo of weekly U.S. prescriptions within the final couple of months was because of decrease starter doses being equipped into the market.
“You can find different periods of times where you can say it’s plateauing but it’s not because of plateaued demand, it’s simply because of the supply into the market,” he mentioned.
Novo has now launched Wegovy in at the very least 16 nations, it mentioned, however declined to call the extra nations since August when the corporate mentioned it was in 12 nations.
The drugmaker mentioned it now expects gross sales progress this 12 months of between 23% and 27% in native currencies, in comparison with the beforehand guided vary for 22% to twenty-eight% progress.
The outlook mirrored continued pricing stress on its weight problems and diabetes medication and the prices of investing in increasing output of its present medication in addition to in its pipeline of subsequent technology weight problems medication, it mentioned.
Working revenue progress this 12 months is now seen at between 21% and 27% in native currencies, in comparison with its earlier forecast of 20% to twenty-eight%.
Novo has raised its 2024 gross sales progress outlook twice for the reason that starting of the 12 months. In August, nonetheless, the corporate lower its expectations for working revenue progress.
($1 = 6.9430 Danish crowns)
