Novo Nordisk posts Q3 sales of obesity drug Wegovy above expected forecast

The Denmark-based company said it now expects sales growth this year of between 23% and 27% in local currencies, compared to the previously guided range for 22% to 28% growth

Novo Nordisk on Wednesday reported better-than-expected quarterly sales of its popular Wegovy weight-loss drug and narrowed its 2024 outlook for the year, in a mixed set of results reflecting growing competition in the fast-growing obesity drug market. 

Sales of Wegovy totalled 17.3 billion Danish crowns ($2.49 billion) in the third quarter, ahead of the 15.9 billion expected by analysts in a company-compiled consensus and up 48 per cent from the previous quarter. 

The Wegovy sales beat may reassure investors worried the Danish drugmaker was losing its lead to US rival Eli Lilly . Second-quarter sales fell short of analyst estimates. 

Its shares were up 5 per cent in pre-market trading. 

Still total group sales, which rose 21 per cent to 71.3 billion crowns, came below the 72.3 billion crowns expected by analysts. 

Novo Nordisk, a first-mover in an obesity drug market that some analysts forecast could be worth about $150 billion by the early 2030s, is going head to head with rival Eli Lilly which launched its drug Zepbound in December last year. 

"Wegovy continues to gain momentum and clearly exceeds expectations in the quarter," compensating for weaker diabetes sales, Sydbank analyst Soren Lontoft Hansen said. 

Wegovy and Zepbound are part of a class of drugs that mimic an intestinal hormone called GLP-1, either on their own or in combination with compounds that target a second hormone to create a sense of fullness and reduce appetite. 

The Denmark-based company said it now expects sales growth this year of between 23 per cent and 27 per cent in local currencies, compared to the previously guided range for 22 per cent to 28 per cent growth. 

The company said the outlook reflected continued pricing pressure on its obesity and diabetes drugs and the costs of investing in expanding output of its existing drugs as well as in its pipeline of next generation obesity drugs. 

Operating profit growth this year is now seen at between 21 per cent and 27 per cent in local currencies, compared to its previous forecast of 20 per cent to 28 per cent. 

Novo Nordisk has raised its 2024 sales growth outlook twice since the beginning of the year. In August, however, the company cut its expectations for operating profit growth. 

"The sales growth is driven by increasing demand for our GLP-1-based diabetes and obesity treatments, and we are serving more patients than ever before," CEO Lars Fruergaard Jorgensen said in a statement. 

Novo said operating profit between July and September rose 26 per cent to 33.8 billion Danish crowns ($4.86 billion) compared with 33.6 billion forecast by analysts.