Oral Wegovy bolsters Novo in Q3
Novo chief executive Mike Doustdar.
Novo has raised its financial guidance for 2026 on the back of rising sales of its oral weight-loss therapy Wegovy, which continues to shrug off competition from Eli Lilly's rival product Foundayo.
The Danish pharma group recorded DKK 5.39 billion ($813 million) in sales of the Wegovy (semaglutide) pill in the US, UAE, UK, and Germany in the third quarter, outstripping Lilly's Foundayo (orforglipron), which pulled in $184 million in the same period.
The performance of the product helped to offset weakness in other parts of Novo's business, particularly in the market for injectable incretin therapies for obesity and type 2 diabetes, where Lilly is now dominating, and is seen as key to Novo returning to former growth levels.
Overall, group sales rose 4% to DKK 79.2 billion in the quarter, as injectable Wegovy declined 2% to DKK 20.4 billion and Ozempic (also semaglutide) fell 5% to DKK 29.7 billion, losing market share, respectively, to Lilly's fast-growing, tirzepatide-based Zepbound and Mounjaro.
Novo also highlighted the launch of the Ozempic pill for type 2 diabetes, which launched in the US in May as a rebrand from the earlier Rybelsus product, saying it had seen "encouraging early momentum" with the new formulation.
The growth trajectory means Novo is now expecting full-year sales and operating profit to be 2% above or below 2025 levels, which is an improvement on its earlier forecasts.
"We are particularly pleased to see both US operations and international operations deliver sales growth this quarter," said chief executive Mike Doustdar. "Our focus is on sustaining this progress through disciplined execution and broader access to our medicines."
Doustdar also highlighted the upcoming launch of CagriSema (cagrilintide and semaglutide), a follow-up to injectable Wegovy, in the US in early 2027, telling Bloomberg that it is a "wonderful drug" that provides "good quality weight loss" and is already in full production mode, in anticipation of a positive FDA decision on approval before year-end.
The jury is out on CagriSema's prospects, not least because of the stellar data emerging with Lilly's follow-up therapy retatrutide. Nevertheless, shares in Novo were up more than 5% at the time of writing as investors responded to signs that the company is on a firmer footing after several quarters of instability.
Looking at other pipeline candidates, Novo emphasised the start of the phase 3 AMAZE 9 trial of oral zenagamtide (formerly amycretin), in development for obesity and diabetes, and haemophilia A therapy Frehemgo (denecimig), which has been recommended for approval in the EU, with first launches planned around the turn of the year.
