Novo Shares Slide as Drugmaker Maps Out Life Beyond Wegovy

Novo presented its new ambitions at its Capital Markets Day in London, outlining plans to strengthen and diversify its drug portfolio over the next decade. The company expects revenue growth between 2026 and 2030 to broadly match its industry peers. Copenhagen-listed shares initially dropped as much as 7% before trimming losses to around 4.8%.

A central challenge is the approaching expiration of key patents covering semaglutide, the active ingredient in Wegovy and Ozempic. CEO Mike Doustdar described the issue as the “elephant in the room,” acknowledging that investors are increasingly focused on what happens when exclusivity begins to expire early next decade. The U.S. patent is set to expire in 2032, particularly significant because the country accounts for more than half of semaglutide sales.

Novo is therefore seeking to build a larger and more diversified business before those patents expire. Management acknowledged that losing exclusivity could create significant pricing pressure as competitors gain greater ability to enter the market. Its goal is to emerge from that transition as a bigger company with revenue spread across a broader range of products.

Competition in obesity treatments is already intensifying. Novo helped establish the modern GLP-1 market with Wegovy and Ozempic, but Eli Lilly has since captured a majority share of the injectable segment with Mounjaro and Zepbound. Over the 12 months leading into Monday, Novo shares had fallen 27%, while Lilly shares had gained 52%.

Novo has scored an important recent success with the U.S. launch of its Wegovy pill, which is now being introduced in additional markets. However, the oral treatment still represents a relatively small portion of the company’s overall sales. Investors are also weighing a series of clinical setbacks and leadership changes that have added uncertainty around Novo’s ability to regain momentum.

The company’s recently announced rebrand from Novo Nordisk to Novo forms another part of its attempted reset. Doustdar said the new identity and changes to corporate culture are part of the same effort to make the organization more competitive. The changes come as Novo faces a market that has become significantly more crowded since the success of its first generation of GLP-1 medicines.

The long-term targets demonstrate Novo’s ambition to build its next wave of blockbuster products before semaglutide loses exclusivity, but Monday’s share-price reaction suggests investors are looking for more immediate evidence of a turnaround. With Lilly gaining market share and patent expirations approaching, execution on Novo’s pipeline will be increasingly important to determining whether it can sustain growth beyond the Wegovy era.