COPENHAGEN, Feb 3 (Reuters) - Wegovy maker Novo Nordisk warned on Tuesday that profits and sales could drop as much as 13% this year, the first declines in years, in a new setback for the obesity drug pioneer as it struggles to claw back market share from rival Eli Lilly.
Novo said its outlook was hit by lower realised prices, especially in the U.S., fierce competition and the expiry of patents on semaglutide — the active ingredient in its Wegovy and Ozempic drugs — in some markets outside the U.S.
The Danish group expects adjusted operating profit and adjusted sales at constant exchange rates to both fall by between 5% and 13% this year. Sales rose 10% last year and analysts had, on average, forecast a 2% decline this year.
"In 2026, Novo Nordisk will face pricing headwinds in an increasingly competitive market," CEO Mike Doustdar said in a statement.
"However, we are very encouraged by the promising early uptake from the U.S. launch of Wegovy pill, and we remain confident in our ability to drive volume growth over the coming years," he added.
SHARES DROP
Novo's U.S.-listed shares fell 12% after the company's earlier-than-expected earnings statement. Its market value peaked in June 2024, making it Europe's most valuable listed firm, but it has since shed about two‑thirds of its value.
Novo and Lilly are locked in a tightening fight in the booming obesity-drug market, with steep U.S. price pressure under President Donald Trump, rising copycat drugs and fresh challengers lining up.
Novo is trying to win back its crown after a bruising year in which Lilly's rival injectable drug Zepbound overtook Wegovy in U.S. prescriptions and wiped 50% off Novo's share price.
Under Doustdar, Novo is betting on its newly-launched Wegovy pill and aggressive advertising to win back ground.
On a non-adjusted basis, the mid-point of Novo's 2026 sales outlook would be about minus 1%, helped by a reversal of $4.2 billion in sales rebate provisions tied to the 340B Drug Pricing Program in the U.S.
Novo also said two members of its executive management team - head of U.S. operations Dave Moore and head of product and portfolio strategy Ludovic Helfgott - would leave. They will be replaced by Jamey Millar and Hong Chow respectively.
Operating profit fell 14% to 31.7 billion crowns in the fourth quarter, compared with the 31.2 billion expected by analysts.
Global Wegovy sales fell 12% in the quarter to 21.9 billion crowns from a year earlier, versus analysts' expectations of 21.1 billion.
(Reporting by Jacob Gronholt-Pedersen, Maggie Fick and Stine Jacobsen. Editing by David Goodman and Mark Potter)
