Novo Nordisk today published its 2025 earnings report, indicating a 6% rise in sales. However, the company disappointed investors by providing guidance for 2026, projecting a decline of 5% to 13% in both sales and operating profit.
Novo Nordisk’s stock plummeted 17% after the release, erasing gains seen so far this year.
Speaking to reporters, the company’s CEO, Mike Doustdar, stated, “People should expect that it goes down before it comes back up.”
Highlighting the headwinds from significantly lower U.S. pricing on Wegovy, he said, “We did not go into the details of the magnitude of that – with the guidance we are giving that range.”
The initial dose of the new Wegovy pill is priced at just $149, significantly lower than the injectable version sold by Novo just a year prior.
“We are creating affordability for the patients, millions of patients that are right now in need of GLP-1 products, but simply could not afford it. To do that short term, you have to take a headwind. But of course, there’s a very long tailwind for years to come.”
In a prepared earnings statement, Doustdar said, “Novo Nordisk delivered 10% sales growth in constant exchange rates and reached nearly 46 million people with our innovative treatments, despite 2025 being a challenging year for the company. In 2026, Novo Nordisk will face pricing headwinds in an increasingly competitive market. However, we are very encouraged by the promising early uptake from the US launch of Wegovy® pill, and we remain confident in our ability to drive volume growth over the coming years. Also for this year, we look forward to regulatory decisions for next-generation treatments, such as Mim8 within haemophilia and CagriSema within obesity, as well as a number of exciting R&D read-outs, including phase 3 read-outs for etavopivat and ziltivekimab.”
Doustdar became CEO of Novo Nordisk in August 2025.
By CEO NA Editorial Staff
