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Novo Nordisk on Wednesday reported better-than-expected 2023 earnings, as sales of its wildly standard anti-weight problems and diabetes tablets endured to hover.
The maker of weight reduction drug Wegovy and diabetes drug Ozempic reported an amplify in sales of 31% in Danish kroner and 36% at fixed alternate charges (CER) to 232.3 billion kroner ($33.71 billion).
Elephantine-year working income jumped by 37% in kroner and 44% at fixed alternate charges to 102.6 billion kroner.
The Danish pharmaceutical giant acknowledged it expects sales boost this year of between 18% and 26% in CER terms, as set apart a matter to surges for Wegovy and Ozempic, which bring collectively the same active ingredient.
Novo Nordisk’s valuation rose to $506 billion at 08:06 GMT, in line with CNBC’s calculation of LSEG data. The fragment imprint moderated relatively of via the morning, and change into up by 1.6% on the day at 9:15 a.m. London time.
Novo remains Europe’s largest company by market capitalization, earlier than LVMH, which change into valued at $422 billion earlier than Wednesday’s market open.
The 2023 results were fueled by actual performance in the company’s diabetes and weight problems care division, with weight problems care in particular spiking by 154% at CER to 41.6 billion.
“We in actuality search data from the same stage of set apart a matter to in the original year and while you perceive on the reality that we’re handiest serving a pair of million sufferers living with weight problems, some 40 million folks living with diabetes — there may be an gigantic market accessible,” CEO Lars Fruergaard Jørgensen told CNBC on Wednesday.
Competition in the weight-loss hotfoot has emerged for Novo Nordisk in the compose of U.S. stalwart Eli Lilly. The Danish company has acknowledged here’s doubtless to carry downward imprint pressures in the U.S., although Jørgensen acknowledged the competitors would in the rupture motivate sufferers.
“In case you are in actuality going to develop a huge dent in treating folks with weight problems and combating one of the indispensable apply-on diseases from that, it in actuality takes more than one company to attain that, so I welcome competitors that will support put the weight problems market,” he told CNBC’s Charlotte Reed on Wednesday.
“We’re feeble to competing on having the exact merchandise, and the incoming competitor we now salvage been competing with for over 100 years — we now salvage enormous respect for every varied — in dispute that is the wholesome competitors that in actuality brings better and better care to sufferers and takes the burden off health care societies. So I squawk or now now not it’s a to find-to find for now now not handiest the two firms, but additionally for society.”
While costs also can fair need to come motivate down, Novo Nordisk does now now not ogle a slowdown in global set apart a matter to.
“The unmet needs in form 2 diabetes and weight problems are rising by the day, and the rising prevalence of these closely connected threats to global health has created surging set apart a matter to for our GLP-1-basically basically based therapies,” Jørgensen and Chairman Helge Lund acknowledged in Wednesday’s earnings story.
“This has enabled us to succeed in more sufferers than at any point in our 100-year historical past, contributing to actual sales boost across North The US and International Operations.”
The company also acknowledged that this had resulted in increased stress on its provide chain, ensuing in “periodic constraints” across its portfolio because it struggled to preserve tempo with set apart a matter to in 2023.
“We salvage replied by investing heavily in expanding our production ability with the aim of serving hundreds of hundreds more sufferers worldwide. In 2023 on my own, we announced investments totalling more than DKK 75 billion in the growth of our production sites across the globe,” the chairman and CEO acknowledged.
“With constructing now underway on these projects, we strive to feature our existing companies and products 24 hours a day, seven days a week, as we bring collectively more of our lifestyles-changing medicines than ever sooner than.”
Novo Nordisk acknowledged it had now begun to step by step amplify provide of decrease dosage Wegovy in the U.S., having restricted provide of the starter dose strength since final Could doubtless well also fair.
