The company is struggling with supply bottlenecks due to overwhelming demand and has therefore invested heavily in expanding its range.
“We cannot ensure an ever-growing demand, so it is important for us that we ensure continuity of care for the patients who have started treatment,” said CEO Lars Fruergaard Jorgensen on Thursday. In order to continue to ensure the supply, the supply of the lower Wegovy starter doses in the USA will be reduced by about 50 percent for “a few months”.
Novo Nordisk plans to bring the weight loss syringe to markets outside the United States. The priority is the USA, where the drug has already been introduced, said CFO Karsten Munk Knudsen. More than 100,000 prescriptions for Wegovy are issued there every week. Novo wants to win other contract manufacturers for the drug in order to further expand production.
In the first quarter, Wegovy sales jumped 211 percent at constant exchange rates. Novo recently announced that a second contract manufacturer will start producing the drug. A third manufacturer is due to start production later this year, Jorgensen said. The group also benefited from strong sales of its blockbuster diabetes drug Ozempic, which also causes weight loss, in the first quarter.
Overall, sales rose by a quarter to 53.4 billion Danish kroner (7.16 billion euros). Operating profit (EBIT) rose 28 percent to 25 billion crowns (3.35 billion euros), exceeding analysts’ expectations. Europe’s second most valuable company by market cap confirmed its full-year guidance, which it had raised earlier in the month on strong demand for Wegovy.
