The maker of Ozempic and Wegovy saw €80bn wiped off its value yesterday as fierce competition in the fat jab market took its toll, writes Hugo Duncan.
Shares in Novo Nordisk fell as much as 30pc after it slashed sales and profits forecasts for the second time this year amid pressure from Mounjaro and Zepbound maker Eli Lilly.
The Danish company also appointed a new chief executive after abruptly ousting former boss Lars Fruergaard Jorgensen in May following a dramatic slump in the share price.
New boss Maziar Mike Doustdar – Novo’s head of international operations – faced a baptism of fire yesterday as the latest bleak trading update sent shares to a three-year low.
The stock is now down more than 60pc since peaking in June last year – slashing its value from €531bn to €205bn.
It marked another difficult day for Novo chairman Helge Lund, who last week faced the humiliation of being removed from the same job at energy giant BP earlier than he hoped.
Chris Beauchamp, chief market analyst at trading platform IG, said: “Novo Nordisk shares continue to endure their own remarkable weight-loss programme.
“The pendulum has swung from wild optimism a year ago to rampant pessimism now. Are there any investors brave enough to snap up a possible bargain?”
Copenhagen-listed Novo became Europe’s most valuable listed firm after the launch of Wegovy in 2021.
At one point, it was larger than the Danish economy.
But shares have plunged in the past year over concerns about its drug pipeline and its waning strength in the US, the largest market for weight-loss medication.
Although Zepbound was launched more than two years after Wegovy, prescriptions of the Eli Lilly drug now outstrip those of Novo’s blockbuster by more than 100,000 a week.
Zepbound is marketed as Mounjaro in the UK where it has been dubbed the ‘King Kong’ of slimming jabs.
Novo yesterday said it expects sales to rise by between 8pc and 14pc this year – down from a previous range of 13pc to 21pc.
It also lowered its forecasts for profit growth to as little as 10pc from a previous estimate of up to 24pc.
Minutes after the bleak update, Novo revealed Doustdar will be taking the helm on August 7.
He said: “The fact that my announcement comes right after the update just makes the mandate ahead even more clear.”
