Novo Nordisk is About to Become Europe’s Most Valuable Company as the Weight-Loss Drug Ozempic Sees Soaring Demand

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With the collective girth of the Western world continuing to expand as sodium- and sugar-rich processed foods unleash a veritable obesity pandemic, the pharma giant Novo Nordisk is positioned just right to benefit from this health crisis on the back of the virtually ceaseless demand for the weight-loss drug Ozempic.

As we detailed in a previous post, Novo Nordisk’s Ozempic was approved by the US FDA in 2017 for patients with type-2 diabetes. In December 2022, the FDA approved Ozempic’s new variant – Wegovy – to treat obesity in teens aged 12 years and above. Critically, clinical trials showed that patients taking Wegovy regularly could lose around 15 percent of their body weight. Both Ozempic and Wegovy mimic the hormone glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1), which targets brain areas that regulate appetite.

Earlier in August, Novo Nordisk announced that its revenue for H2 2023 increased by 30 percent on an annual basis to reach 107.7 billion Danish Kroner or $10.17 billion. Much of this growth was driven by the company's GLP-1 lineup, including Ozempic, which witnessed an annual sales growth of 59 percent to reach 41 billion Danish Kroner or $3.94 billion. More astonishing still, Wegovy registered sales growth of 367 percent on an annual basis in the first half of 2023, managing to earn 12 billion Danish Kroner in revenue.

With over 42 percent of the adults in the US continuing to suffer from obesity, it is hardly surprising that North America constitutes the fastest growing region for Novo Nordisk. In H1 2023, the company's North American sales grew by 28 percent relative to the comparable