Looming obesity drug rivalry not a concern for Novo CEO

[November 15, 2022]  By Natalie Grover and Maggie Fick

LONDON (Reuters) -The benefits of obesity drugs such as Novo Nordisk's Wegovy on healthcare systems in countries such as the United States are so significant that the expected entry of rival drugs will not hurt its margins, CEO Lars Jorgensen told Reuters on Tuesday.

The Danish drugmaker raised its full-year earnings outlook earlier this month, after reporting better-than-expected quarterly profit on diabetes treatment Ozempic.

Pharmaceutical companies must often convince doctors to use many of their drugs, and doctors in turn must convince patients, but patients are clamouring for the weight-loss benefits of Novo's drugs, Jorgensen said in an interview.

Novo Nordisk Chief Executive Lars Fruergaard Jorgensen speaks to reporters at the company's headquarters in Copenhagen, Denmark, February 5, 2020. REUTERS/Jacob Gronholt-Pedersen

The long-term utility of anti-obesity medicines on healthcare system budgets and even employment levels are such that if and when rival drugs hit the market, there will not be no need to "cut margins or compete on price", he added.

Novo faces competition from Eli Lilly, whose monthly injection Mounjaro won U.S. approval for type 2 diabetes in May and is under fast-track review as a potential weight-loss drug.

(Reporting by Natalie Grover and Maggie Fick in London; Editing by Louise Heavens and Alexander Smith)

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