Novo Nordisk was Europe’s most valuable enterprise worth $615 billion last June, but its market value has fallen to $310 billion|News Oresund|CC BY 3.0
The maker of the Wegovy weight loss drug, Novo Nordisk, said yesterday that the company’s CEO, Lars Fruergaard Jorgensen, will step down, citing ongoing “market challenges” and a significant drop in the company’s share value.
Jorgensen, 58, had led the company since 2017, during which sales of its Wegovy and Ozempic treatments skyrocketed. The company’s decision reportedly blindsided him.
The Swedish pharma giant was Europe’s most valuable enterprise, worth $615 billion last June, but its market value has decreased to ~$310 billion.
It has been losing steam
Novo faces heavy competition from American pharma Eli Lilly’s weight loss treatment Zepbound.
The US is one of the biggest markets for anti-obesity drugs, and Zepbound prescriptions surpassed Novo’s Wegovy in mid-March.
Lilly is also spearheading a daily weight loss pill, while Novo’s experimental anti-obesity treatment, CagriSema, missed expectations in a study.
The leadership shake-up made Novo shares fall 0.8% after an early 4% gain, while Lilly’s stock rose 2.6%. A successor for Jorgensen has not been named yet.