Danish drugmaker Novo Nordisk will decrease costs of its weight reduction drug Wegovy because it plans to lift gross sales volumes and navigate powerful competitors.
Costs for the blockbuster drug fell within the first quarter. The corporate plans to proceed to chop costs within the US due to excessive quantity and competitors, chief monetary officer Karsten Munk Knudsen mentioned on the corporate’s Thursday earnings name.
Gross sales of Wegovy greater than doubled within the first quarter year-on-year, to 9.4 billion Danish crowns, or $1.3 billion, based on the corporate’s earnings. Within the US, greater than 25,000 new sufferers are beginning the drug weekly, in comparison with 5,000 to start with of the yr, Knudsen mentioned.
Knudsen and CEO Lars Fruergaard Jorgensen mentioned on the earnings name that they are prioritizing accessibility to Wegovy, as an alternative of retaining costs excessive — regardless of vital demand at present prices. They didn’t specify how a lot Novo plans to chop Wegovy’s costs.
The Danish pharmaceutical maker, which additionally produces viral weight reduction drug Ozempic, reported better-than-expected gross sales of 65 billion Danish crowns, or $9.4 billion, within the first quarter. The corporate additionally raised forecasts for 2024 and mentioned it expects to gross sales to develop between 19% and 27%.
The Wegovy value cuts come as Novo faces competitors from US rival, Eli Lilly, which additionally posted earnings this week and reported a 26% enhance in income within the first quarter. Eli Lilly mentioned that income development was pushed by Ozempic and Wegovy opponents Mounjaro and Zepbound, that are used to deal with Sort 2 diabetes and weight problems, respectively.
Novo’s pricing for Ozempic and Wegovy has come underneath latest political scrutiny. Final week, US Senator Bernie Sanders launched an investigation trying into “the outrageously excessive costs” Novo costs for each medicine within the US, which he mentioned had been a lot increased than in different international locations.
Wegovy and related weight-loss medicine have grow to be a large enterprise. With the US grownup weight problems charge at round 40%, the medicine may very well be prescribed to fifteen million People within the subsequent few years, per a 2023 Goldman Sachs report. The financial institution estimated that the anti-obesity drug market to develop to $100 billion by 2030.
The highly-coveted medicine are being snagged by celebrities like Oprah Winfrey, Elon Musk, and Charles Barkley. They’re additionally gaining recognition with people who find themselves going out of their means to afford them.
