Novo Nordisk Wegovy manufactured by Novo Nordisk packaging is seen in this illustration photo taken in a pharmacy in Krakow, Poland on April 8, 2024. (Photo by Jakub Porzycki/NurPhoto via Getty Images)
Jakub Porzycki | Nurphoto | Getty Images
Novo Nordisk on Wednesday posted weaker-than-expected net profit in the second quarter and trimmed its operating profit outlook.
The pharmaceutical giant said its net profit came in at 20.05 billion Danish kroner ($2.93 billion) in the three months to the end of June. A LSEG aggregate forecast had projected the figure would come in at 20.9 billion Danish kroner.
In the first quarter of 2024, the Wegovy maker had posted a net profit increase of 28% to 25.4 billion Danish kroner year on year, it said in May.
Novo Nordisk also trimmed its operating profit outlook for 2024.
At the time, Novo Nordisk also raised its 2024 outlook slightly, bumping its sales growth projection to a range between 19% and 27% at constant exchange rates, as well as raising its operating growth forecast to a 22% to 30% interval. The adjustment was linked to prior-year growth net estimates in the U.S., the company said.
Novo Nordisk is facing increasing competition in the weight loss space, both from smaller companies and from pharmaceutical giants such as Roche, which last month shared promising early-stage trial data from its own obesity drug candidate.
Novo Nordisk’s Wegovy has also had promising news in recent months. The drug was approved in China in the second quarter, opening it for sale in the world’s second largest economy. Elsewhere, the U.K.’s and European Union’s medical regulators said it was backing Wegovy as a way to reduce risks of serious heart events among overweight and obese adults.
This breaking news story is being updated.