Liselotte Sabroe | Afp | Getty ImagesFull-year operating profit soared by 37% in kroner and 44% at constant exchange rates to 102.6 billion kroner. The Danish pharmaceutical giant anticipates sales growth of 18% to 26% in CER terms this year due to the increasing demand for Wegovy and Ozempic, which both contain the same active ingredient. Novo Nordisk’s valuation increased to $506 billion at 08:06 GMT, according to CNBC’s calculation of LSEG data. The share price showed a slight moderation in the morning and was up by 1.6% on the day at 9:15 a.m. London time. Novo remains the largest company by market capitalization in Europe, surpassing LVMH, which was valued at $422 billion ahead of Wednesday’s market open. The company’s strong 2023 results were driven by robust performance in its diabetes and obesity care division, particularly with obesity care soaring by 154% at CER to 41.6 billion. CEO Lars Fruergaard Jørgensen announced on Wednesday, “We actually expect the same level of demand in the new year and when you look at the fact that we are only serving a couple of million patients living with obesity, some 40 million people living with diabetes — there is a huge market out there.” Competition in the weight-loss race has emerged for Novo Nordisk with U.S. stalwart Eli Lilly. Jørgensen welcomed the competition, stating, “If you’re really going to make a big dent in treating people with obesity and preventing some of the follow-on diseases from that, it actually takes more than one company to do that, so I welcome competition that will help establish the obesity market.” While prices may have to adapt to competition, Novo Nordisk does not foresee a slowdown in global demand. “The unmet needs in type 2 diabetes and obesity are growing by the day, and the rising prevalence of these closely related threats to global health has created surging demand for our GLP-1-based therapies,” said Jørgensen and Chairman Helge Lund in Wednesday’s earnings report. The company also noted increased pressure on its supply chain, leading to “periodic constraints” as it struggled to keep pace with demand in 2023. “We have responded by investing heavily in expanding our production capacity with the aim of serving millions more patients worldwide,” the chairman and CEO said. Novo Nordisk has now begun to gradually increase the supply of lower dosage Wegovy in the U.S., having restricted supply of the starter dose strength since last May.
