① Facing competition from rivals eroding its market share, Danish pharmaceutical giant Novo Nordisk... ① The company is experiencing a significant slowdown in revenue growth; ② Novo Nordisk CFO Karsten Munk Knudsen stated that the key to the company's future lies in its ability to launch the next groundbreaking innovative drug that will change the healthcare landscape. things.
Danish pharmaceutical giant Novo Nordisk is experiencing a significant slowdown in its revenue growth as competitors erode its market share. Novo Nordisk CFO Karsten Munk Knudsen stated that the company's future hinges on its ability to launch the next groundbreaking innovative drug that will reshape the healthcare landscape.
According to its third-quarter earnings report released on Wednesday, Novo Nordisk expects full-year sales to grow by 8% to 11% on a constant currency basis, and operating profit to grow by 4% to 7%, compared with the company’s forecasts of 24% and 22% respectively in the same period last year.
Following the announcement, the company's stock price initially fell before recovering slightly, but the overall trend remained weak. Year-to-date, Novo Nordisk's stock price has fallen by more than 50%.
In an interview, Knudsen said, "Our industry's ultimate defense is innovation. We are doing everything we can to drive innovation: this includes the oral version of Wegovy that we hope to launch in the U.S. next year, the third-generation product CagriSema that we plan to submit an application for in the coming months, and the daily drug amycretin that is currently in development. Innovation is the real silver bullet."
Wegovy, a weight-loss drug, is one of Novo Nordisk's two main products; the other is the diabetes drug Ozempic. Both contain semaglutide as their active ingredient and are administered via injection.
CagriSema and amycretin are two next-generation products that Novo Nordisk is developing. CagriSema is an anti-obesity medication taken once a week, while amycretin is a daily oral medication for diabetes.
In addition to the US pharmaceutical giant Eli Lilly In addition to these challenges, Novo Nordisk also faces the issue of expiring product patents. Although Novo Nordisk currently still holds patents for these GLP-1 drugs, some of these patents will expire as early as next year.
Knudsen stated that obtaining patents is a reward for innovation, but once the "breathing-out period" ends, companies must recompete for market share.
“This is the norm in our industry. Our first priority is to be transparent with our shareholders, clearly stating which countries’ patents will expire next year and analyzing their impact,” he said.
Knudsen added that the patent expiration next year is expected to have a low single-digit percentage negative impact.
“In these markets, we will adjust our strategy and will never withdraw, but will continue to defend our market position,” he emphasized.
(Article source: CLS)
