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Novo Sets Long-Term Targets Ahead of Semaglutide Patent Expirations

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Novo Sets Long-Term Targets Ahead of Semaglutide Patent Expirations

Novo Nordisk's (NVO) US-listed shares declined as the Danish drugmaker unveiled its long-term growth ambitions ahead of patent expirations for semaglutide, the active ingredient in its weight loss and diabetes drugs.

At its capital markets day in London, the company said it is targeting risk-adjusted pipeline sales, including existing assets, of more than 150 billion kroner ($23.04 billion) by 2035.

It projects a compound annual revenue growth rate from 2026 to 2030 in line with peers such as Eli Lilly (LLY), Johnson & Johnson (JNJ), AbbVie (ABBV), Novartis (NVS), Merck (MRK) and Pfizer (PFE).

Novo plans to launch more than five medications that the company described as "multi-blockbusters" by 2030. It aims to conduct at least 10 phase 3 programs, including five in obesity and diabetes.

Novo's US patent for semaglutide, the main ingredient in its Wegovy and Ozempic drugs, is set to expire in 2032, according to media reports. Novo, which has already lost patent protection in certain international markets, loses exclusivity in China this year, The Wall Street Journal reported.

The company is seeing early signs of price pressures associated with the loss of exclusivity, but it aims to become a larger and more diversified company by 2035, Chief Executive Mike Doustdar said at the event, according to a FactSet transcript.

Novo intends to "fiercely compete" for semaglutide volumes in both pre and post-loss of exclusivity markets, and launch new diabetes and obesity drugs every year through 2030, the slide deck showed.

Novo's New York Stock Exchange-listed shares declined 8% in Monday trade, with the stock down 22% so far this year.

Novo plans to expand its manufacturing capacity to serve 10 times more people that suffer from obesity and use its oral glucagon-like peptide-1, or GLP-1, drugs. It aims to serve more than 60 million patients worldwide by 2030.

Ahead of the capital markets day, some Novo shareholders urged it to develop new medicines and pursue potential acquisitions to reduce its dependence on weight-loss treatments, the Financial Times reported, citing the investors.

"We established a lot of collaborations in the recent years," Chief Scientific Officer Martin Lange said during the Monday event. "We've also done some acquisitions, and we'll continue doing that not only in diabetes and obesity, but specifically also when we move into novel therapy areas."

The company has eliminated about 13,000 jobs in the 12 months to August.

"We're using the funds coming through this exercise to fuel for the future, fuel the (research and development) organization, as well as of course make ourselves more competitive," Doustdar said.

Last week, Novo agreed to collaborate with artificial intelligence firm Anthropic to help accelerate the discovery and development of new medicines, following similar partnerships with Amazon.com's (AMZN) cloud-computing unit, Amazon Web Services, and GenAI chatbot ChatGPT maker OpenAI.

The Danish company recently struck an up to $1.4 billion licensing deal with Orbis Medicines over cardiometabolic diseases. Last year, it acquired Akero Therapeutics.

Separately, Novo said its investigational drug CagriSema was more effective in reducing weight in patients with type 2 diabetes than Eli Lilly's tirzepatide in phase 3 trials.

Price: $39.80, Change: $-3.45, Percent Change: -7.97%

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