Slimming profits at Novo Nordisk as Ozempic jab maker struggles to keep up with demand

Appetite for weight loss drugs is proving insatiable but pharma giant Novo Nordisk is having difficulties fulfilling the demand.

The Ozempic maker has been the winner of the ‘miracle drug’ boom so far but yesterday the Danish firm warned profits for the year would be lower than initially expected as it tries to ramp up production.

Last year Novo Nordisk – now worth £210billion – outstripped fashion giant LVMH as Europe’s biggest company.

Shares, which trade on the Copenhagen stock market, have risen 51 per cent per cent over the past year.

But it has struggled to keep up with soaring demand as interest in both Wegovy and Ozempic gains pace across the world.

Wegovy is a weekly injection and tricks the body into thinking it is full. 

The drug is available on the NHS, while sister drug Ozempic’s popularity has taken off in the US. Celebrity fans include Tesla billionaire Elon Musk and actress Rebel Wilson.

British pharmacies have had shortages of Wegovy in recent months, fuelling concerns about unlicensed versions being sold to vulnerable consumers online.

Novo put slimmer profit expectations down to ‘expected, continued periodic supply constraints’ with producing the drugs. 

‘Unprecedented levels of demand are creating significant supply issues,’ AJ Bell investment director Russ Mould said, adding that it was ‘in a sense is a nice problem to have’.

The group has factories in nine countries including Algeria, Brazil, China, Denmark, France, Iran, Japan, Russia and the US.

Novo is investing heavily in increasing production, including last month putting £3.2billion into a new factory in North Carolina in the US.

President and chief executive, Lars Fruergaard Jorgensen, attempted to downplay worries, saying it had pumped lots of money into increasing supply. 

But it has been forced to cap doses for new patients in the US to make sure existing users can complete their courses.

Novo has now pencilled in an annual profits rise by between 20 per cent and 28 per cent this year, compared to a previous steer for 22 per cent and 30 per cent.

This was also down to a charge relating to experimental blood pressure drug Ocedurenone failing a clinical trial. The rare underperformance spooked investors, with shares falling 6.7 per cent yesterday.

Sales of its flagship Wegovy drug rose 53 per cent to £1.34billion between April and June.

But analysts had thought they would reach £1.56billion. Ozempic sales also missed expectations.

The company still saw its total sales increase by 25 per cent to £15.4billion over the first six months of the year.

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