Novo Nordisk rebrands as Novo as new CEO charts turnaround

Embroiled in a fight to retain market share in weight loss and diabetes therapies, Novo Nordisk has rebranded and launched a new corporate culture that aims to foster "greater focus, speed, and impact."

While Novo Nordisk will remain its legal name, the company will now do business simply as Novo, with a new visual identity that retains the Apis bull logo that has been part of its brand since the 1920s.

The Danish Group stated that the new corporate culture – dubbed 'The Novo Way' – centres around four Cs; namely, customer obsession, competitiveness, clarity, and care & integrity. It will be explored in more detail at Novo's upcoming capital markets day in London on 21st September.

The rebrand comes as Novo has been hit by stiff competition from Eli Lilly in its core GLP-1 agonist category, resulting in a slowdown in growth for its semaglutide-based therapies Wegovy for weight-loss and Ozempic for type 2 diabetes. At the same time, Lilly has seen revenues shoot up for rival therapies Zepbound and Mounjaro, both based on dual GIP/GLP-1 agonist tirzepatide.

Novo has been fighting back with the launch of its oral Wegovy product, which so far seems to be winning the competitive tussle with Lilly's oral GLP-1 agonist Foundayo (orforglipron).

However, some setbacks in its late-stage pipeline, including failed trials for its IL-6 inhibitor ziltivekimab in heart failure and atherosclerosis, have dented efforts to diversify, and its follow-up to Wegovy and Ozempic – CagriSema (cagrilintide and semaglutide) – has generated disappointing clinical results.

Meanwhile, Novo is facing a major patent cliff in the next few years with the loss of market exclusivity for semaglutide, which is already out of patent in India, with China due to follow soon and Europe and the US expected in the early 2030s.

The new corporate culture is built around a tagline – Lasting Health Starts Now – which extols the idea that "lasting health begins today, not someday, through progress people can see and feel day by day."

Novo said the rebrand will give it "a distinctive, recognisable, and consistent way to connect with people, partners, and other stakeholders around the world."

"Healthcare must become more responsive, relevant, and easier to fit into everyday life. Our brand and culture are strategically important and will enhance how we operate and compete, but the reason we exist will not change," said Novo's chief executive, Mike Doustdar, who was brought in to turn around the company's fortunes last year after a punishing period of share price falls.

"We remain true to our purpose of changing people's lives and are ambitious about our future to help them have lasting health, starting right now."