Novo Nordisk saw sales growth for its diabetes and obesity care segment slow in the first half of 2025, confirming investor concern that the company is struggling to fend off competition in the glucagon-like peptide 1 receptor agonists (GLP-1RA) market.

Sales for the portfolio, which includes flagship diabetes treatment Ozempic (semaglutide) and weight loss medication Wegovy (semaglutide), grew 16% to DKK 145.4bn ($22.57bn) in H1 2025. Growth lagged the 26% increase from the same period in 2024, though revenue soared past the previous DKK 125bn.

Overall sales rose 18% year-on-year at constant exchange rates (CER) to DKK 154.9bn for H1. Revenue for Q2 was DKK 76.8bn, slightly ahead of the DKK 76.6bn analysts forecast. Ozempic generated DKK 64.5bn in H1, while Wegovy contributed DKK 36.8bn.

Lower-than-expected sales for Wegovy and Ozempic is one of the reasons Novo Nordisk cut its 2025 sales outlook last week. The company, holder of one of the largest market capitalisations in Europe, warned that full-year sales growth was expected to be 8% to 14%, a steep climbdown from its May forecast of 13% to 21%.

Despite holding first to market advantage in the GLP-1RA space, Eli Lilly has surpassed Novo Nordisk’s market lead with tirzepatide, marketed as Mounjaro in type 2 diabetes and Zepbound in weight loss, in part due to its higher efficacy over semaglutide.

Analysis by GlobalData in January 2025 demonstrated that tirzepatide was outpacing semaglutide in the obesity market, the former having a higher sales ceiling forecast by 2031. Last year, Eli Lilly’s sales grew 32% compared to 26% for Novo Nordisk. Eli Lilly has not yet announced its Q2 2025 results, but investors will be keeping a close eye on whether the sales gap between the two drugs has widened again.

Lower sales have not solely been caused by Eli Lilly – the rise in compounded semaglutide has been a big cause of concern for Novo Nordisk. These alternatives, which are cheaper and more accessible for patients, have eroded market share for the drugmaker. The competition forced Novo to cut the price of Wegovy in the US and introduce more direct-to-patient delivery methods. The company has maintained that continued compounding is unlawful and unsafe.

Barclays analysts said in a note that the company expects deeper erosion in the US market – the region most affected by lower sales – in the second half of the year, as per Reuters.

On the same day it announced its H1 and Q2 results, Novo Nordisk separately revealed that it has filed 14 new lawsuits against makers of unapproved compounded drugs claiming to contain semaglutide. It brings the total lawsuits levelled by the company to 132 across 40 US states.

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It marks a pressurised start for Maziar Mike Doustdar, Novo’s new CEO, who begins his time at the helm of the company this week. Outgoing CEO, Lars Fruergaard Jørgensen, who parted ways with Novo in May amid sliding company share prices, hinted in his outgoing statement that cost-cutting measures are on the cards.

Jørgensen stated: “As a result [of a lowered sales outlook], we are taking measures to sharpen our commercial execution further and ensure efficiencies in our cost base while continuing to invest in future growth.

“With more than one billion people living with obesity globally, including more than 100 million living in the US, and only a few million on treatment, I am confident that under Mike Doustdar’s leadership, Novo Nordisk will maximise the significant growth opportunities, supported by a strong product portfolio and future pipeline,” Jørgensen concluded.

“Novo Nordisk’s diabetes and weight loss drug sales growth decelerates” was originally created and published by Pharmaceutical Technology, a GlobalData owned brand.

 

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