The injectable weight reduction medication Wegovy might be available starting April 24, 2024 at New City Halstead Pharmacy in Chicago, Illinois.
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Novo Nordisk, which became Europe’s most precious company last 12 months on the blockbuster success of its weight-loss drugs, beat first-quarter profit expectations on Thursday as demand for the drugs boomed.
The Danish pharmaceutical giant reported net profit rose 28% year-on-year to 25.4 billion Danish crowns ($3.65 billion), beating an LSEG survey consensus forecast of 23.7 billion crowns.
Sales of the favored weight reduction drug Wegovy have greater than doubled to 9.38 billion crowns.
Total sales in North America rose 35% as the corporate noted that Wegovy was approved within the U.S. in the primary quarter to cut back cardiovascular risk in individuals with obesity. The results showed that Wegovy currently fills 130,000 weekly prescriptions within the U.S., with greater than 25,000 people starting with the brand per week in the course of the quarter.
Copenhagen-listed shares of Novo Nordisk opened 1.45% lower.
“We are pleased with the sales growth in the first three months of 2024, driven by increased demand for our GLP-1-based diabetes and obesity treatments,” CEO Lars Fruergaard Jørgensen said in a press release.
Novo Nordisk raised its 2024 outlook and raised its revenue growth forecast by one percentage point to 19% to 27% in constant currencies. In addition, the operating growth forecast was increased from 21 to 29% to 22 to 30%.
“They raised their full-year guidance a little bit, which is fine. “There was really no expectation other than continued growth, and significant growth,” John Rountree, managing partner of pharmaceutical consulting firm Novasecta, told CNBC’s “Squawk Box Europe.”
“This is exceptional growth and analysts now expect it to continue,” Rountree added.
It might be essential for the corporate to maintain its research and development spending high and innovate as more competitors enter the market and drug patents expire, he added.
Novo Nordisk faces competition in the load loss treatment market from firms equivalent to US giant Eli Lilly and quite a lot of large and smaller firms trying to enter the market. Eli Lilly also raised its full-year guidance this week.
Recent positive test data from Novo Nordisk’s experimental recent weight reduction pill further boosted the corporate’s value last month.
The company was also encouraged by current research results. A European Union regulatory investigation earlier this month found no link between an increased risk of suicidal thoughts and self-harm when taking Wegovy or Novo Nordisk’s diabetes drug Ozempic.
Shares are up 59% within the last 12 months.
