Denmark-based drugmaker Novo nordisk is boosting hopes for a market rebound on the back of strong demand for its oral obesity drug "Wegovy Pill."
As rival Eli Lilly and Company intensifies its chase, the oral Wegovy has maintained its first-mover edge in the United States, logging a cumulative 2 million prescriptions just 16 weeks after launch.
Novo nordisk said on the 6th (local time) that its adjusted net sales for the first quarter came to 70.1 billion Danish kroner (15.96 trillion won). While that was down 4% from a year earlier, growth in the obesity business and brisk early sales of the oral Wegovy beat market expectations.
After the earnings release, the company's shares rose about 3% on the morning of the 7th. Market attention, in particular, centered on the oral Wegovy, which was launched in the United States on Jan. 5.
Chief Executive Officer Mike Doustdar said on the earnings conference call that "the Wegovy Pill is off to a record start in the U.S. market," noting that "more than 1 million people have used it in the 16 weeks since launch."
According to the company, first-quarter prescriptions for the Wegovy Pill totaled 1.3 million. As of Apr. 17, cumulative prescriptions had risen to about 2 million. The company estimated that the actual number of patients in treatment has surpassed 1 million.
Early market response is positive. About 80% of Wegovy Pill users were new patients taking a glucagon-like peptide (GLP)-1 therapy for the first time.
There was some inflow of users from competing products, but the company said cannibalization of sales of the existing injectable Wegovy was limited. In other words, it is expanding the market itself rather than eating into demand for the existing injectable Wegovy.
Rival Eli Lilly and Company also countered by launching the oral obesity drug "Poundayo" in April. Novo nordisk has highlighted its edge in efficacy. The average weight-loss rate for the Wegovy Pill was 17%, versus 12.4% for Poundayo, the companies have said.
Pricing strategy is also a key variable for market expansion. Doustdar said, "The balance of price and demand is at a 'sweet spot.'" In the United States, the starting dose (1.5 mg) of the Wegovy Pill was launched at $149 per month for cash-paying patients. Private insurance holders can buy it for as low as $25 per month through discount programs. The second dose is $199 per month, and the highest dose is $299 per month without insurance.
Doustdar said, "We reached 2 million cumulative prescriptions in 16 weeks, with more than 200,000 prescriptions a week," adding, "At this point, we believe we have set the price very appropriately." However, he noted, "To supply hundreds of millions of patients in the long term, prices will ultimately have to come down."
By the numbers, Novo's first-quarter obesity business revenue was 20.9 billion Danish kroner (about 4.77 trillion won), up 22% year over year on a constant-currency basis. Diabetes revenue rose 12% to 44.9 billion Danish kroner (about 10.249 trillion won).
Sales of the injectable Wegovy were 18.2 billion Danish kroner (about 4.154 trillion won). By contrast, the oral Wegovy posted 2.26 billion Danish kroner (about 515.3 billion won) in its first quarter on the market. Ozempic sales grew 8% to about 28 billion Danish kroner (about 6.384 trillion won).
Novo also slightly raised its full-year outlook. It revised its 2026 adjusted sales growth forecast to "-4% to -12%" from "-5% to -13%." Based on that, Jefferies projected Novo's annual sales at 264 billion to 288 billion Danish kroner ($42 billion to $45.3 billion), or about 60 trillion to 65 trillion won.
☞GLP-1 receptor agonist
A drug that mimics the action of GLP-1, a hormone naturally secreted from the gut after eating. This hormone sends a "full" signal to the brain to reduce appetite and slows the rate at which food leaves the stomach. It also increases insulin secretion to stabilize blood sugar. GLP-1-class obesity drugs such as Wegovy and Mounjaro artificially enhance these functions to reduce food intake and help with weight loss and blood sugar control.