By Dominic Chopping

Novo Nordisk lowered its full-year guidance as copycat versions of its blockbuster weight-loss and diabetes drugs in the U.S. hold back sales of its branded treatments.

The Danish company's sales have been hit by alternative compounded versions of its Ozempic and Wegovy drugs, particularly in the U.S., a practice the U.S. Food & Drug Administration has allowed while supplies of Novo Nordisk's treatments have been in short supply.

Semaglutide--which is marketed as Wegovy for weight-loss and Ozempic for diabetes--is now no longer listed as being in short supply in the U.S. and the FDA has told anyone distributing copies of the injections that they must stop by the end of May.

Sales of the two drugs increased on year in the first quarter, but fell compared with the preceding three months as the compounded versions held back growth in prescriptions in the U.S. Lower realized prices helped support growth somewhat.

"We have reduced our full-year outlook due to lower-than-planned branded GLP-1 penetration, which is impacted by the rapid expansion of compounding in the U.S.," Chief Executive Lars Fruergaard Jorgensen said.

"We are actively focused on preventing unlawful and unsafe compounding and on efforts to expand patient access to our GLP-1 treatments."

The pharmaceutical giant said sales of Wegovy surged 83% on year at constant exchange rates to 17.36 billion Danish kroner ($2.65 billion), but missed a Visible Alpha consensus estimate of 18.5 billion kroner.

Sales of diabetes drug Ozempic rose 15% on year to 32.72 billion kroner, with analysts looking for 32.01 billion kroner.

The company said it continues to work on expanding its channels and access to Wegovy in the U.S. It has recently launched its NovoCare Pharmacy to provide direct-to-patient delivery and entered collaborations with three telehealth organizations, both for cash-paying patients. Earlier this month, U.S. healthcare provider CVS Health announced that Wegovy will be its preferred GLP-1 medicine for obesity.

Novo Nordisk now expects sales to grow 13% to 21% in constant currencies this year, from 16% to 24% previously. Operating profit should grow 16% to 24% compared with a previous target of 19% to 27%.

Its net profit in the first quarter rose 14% to 29.03 billion kroner, ahead of 28.08 billion kroner forecast by analysts in a FactSet poll. Sales rose 19% to 78.09 billion kroner, beating analysts' 77.98 billion-kroner estimate.

Write to Dominic Chopping at dominic.chopping@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

May 07, 2025 02:50 ET (06:50 GMT)

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