This stuff is better than Heroin and the best part is...we don't need the Federales to goose you to take it. We've get Oprah!
BTW the anyone who tells you if you eat right and less you'll loose weight is a f-cking liar. Yes only about 10% of the population was obese in the 1960s vs 45% (not a typo) now. That's only because we've mutated since then.
Wegovy Sales More Than Double as Demand Soars
Novo Nordisk’s earnings jump as demand outstrips supply
By Dominic Chopping, WSJ
Updated May 2, 2024
Sales of blockbuster obesity treatment Wegovy more than doubled in the first quarter as its manufacturer races to make more of the drug to meet surging demand.
The popularity of Wegovy and the diabetes drug Ozempic has fueled a meteoric rise for Denmark’s Novo Nordisk NOVO.B -0.84%decrease; red down pointing triangle. Earlier this year, it became Europe’s most valuable company and its market capitalization is currently more than $550 billion.
Sales growth would have been even higher had Novo Nordisk been able to produce more. The company had restricted supplies of Wegovy in the U.S. to ensure existing patients could keep accessing it, but it began a gradual easing of the restrictions over the past few months.
The company recently moved to secure additional production capacity. It has committed $6 billion to new manufacturing facilities and agreed to acquire three sites previously owned by Somerset, N.J.-based Catalent for $11 billion earlier this year.
It will take time to bring new capacity online though, and the company still expects supply constraints and related drug-shortage notifications.
Both Wegovy and Ozempic are based on the same active ingredient, semaglutide, and Novo Nordisk is busy developing the next generation of treatments that combine it with other ingredients to enhance benefits and improve other areas of health.
The runaway success of semaglutide-based drugs for treating weight loss and diabetes has also yielded extra health benefits, with studies showing that they also cut the risks of stroke and heart attacks, as well as slowing the progression of kidney failure. A recent small study also showed a meaningful improvement in pain and physical function in patients with osteoarthritis.
The company said sales of Ozempic rose 42% on the year in the first quarter to 27.81 billion kroner, equivalent to $3.99 billion. Sales of Wegovy more than doubled to 9.38 billion kroner. The company said sales of its total portfolio of diabetes and obesity medications grew 25% to 61 billion Danish kroner.
Its net profit in the quarter jumped to 25.41 billion kroner from 19.81 billion kroner, beating analysts’ forecasts. Sales rose 22% to 65.35 billion kroner.
Novo Nordisk raised its full-year guidance to reflect better pricing in the U.S. and continued high demand.
Write to Dominic Chopping at dominic.chopping@wsj.com