COPENHAGEN (Reuters) -Danish drugmaker Novo Nordisk on Thursday raised its full-year profit and sales forecast for a second time, but said it would continue to restrict U.S. supplies of starter doses of its hugely popular Wegovy weight-loss drug.
Novo Nordisk, Europe’s second most-valuable listed company after LVMH, is riding on a wave of sky-high demand for its highly effective diabetes and weight-loss drugs Ozempic and Wegovy, which has sent its earnings and shares to record highs this year.
“The growth is driven by increasing demand for our GLP-1-based diabetes and obesity treatments, and we are serving more patients than ever before,” CEO Lars Fruergaard Jorgensen said in a statement.
Novo now expects operating profit growth in local currencies for 2023 of between 31% and 37% and sales growth of between 27% and 33%, up from previous estimates of between 24% and 30% and between 28% and 34%, respectively.
In April, it also significantly raised its outlook.
In May, the company said it was halving the supply of starter doses to the U.S. market for several months to ensure supplies for existing patients.
“While supply capacity for Wegovy is gradually being expanded, the supply of the lower dose strengths in the U.S. will remain restricted to safeguard continuity of care,” Novo said on Thursday.
(Reporting by Nikolaj Skydsgaard; Editing by Josephine Mason and Sharon Singleton)
