Novo Nordisk profits fall as Ozempic vaccine maker struggles to meet demand

The appetite for weight-loss drugs is proving insatiable, but pharmaceutical giant Novo Nordisk is struggling to keep up with demand.

The maker of Ozempic has so far been the winner of the “miracle drug” boom, but yesterday the Danish firm warned that profits for the year would be lower than initially expected as it tries to ramp up production.

Last year, Novo Nordisk, now worth £210bn, overtook fashion giant LVMH as Europe’s biggest company.

Shares traded on the Copenhagen Stock Exchange have risen by 51 percent in the past year.

But it has struggled to meet growing demand as interest in both Wegovy and Ozempic gains pace around the world.

Wegovy is a weekly injection and tricks the body into thinking it is full.

The drug is available on the NHS, while its sister drug Ozempic has taken off in popularity in the US. Celebrity fans include Tesla billionaire Elon Musk and actress Rebel Wilson.

British pharmacies have been short of Wegovy in recent months, fuelling concerns about unlicensed versions being sold to vulnerable consumers online.

Novo attributed the lower earnings expectations to “expected and ongoing periodic supply constraints” in the production of the drugs.

“Unprecedented levels of demand are creating significant supply issues,” said AJ Bell investment director Russ Mould, adding that “in some ways it’s a nice problem to have.”

The group has factories in nine countries, including Algeria, Brazil, China, Denmark, France, Iran, Japan, Russia and the United States.

Novo is investing heavily to ramp up production, including a £3.2bn investment in a new factory in North Carolina last month.

President and CEO Lars Fruergaard Jorgensen sought to play down the concerns, saying the company had invested heavily in increasing supply.

But it has been forced to limit doses for new patients in the US to ensure existing users can complete their courses.

Novo now forecasts annual profit growth of between 20 percent and 28 percent this year, compared with a previous forecast of 22 percent and 30 percent.

This was also due to an allegation related to the failure of a clinical trial of the experimental blood pressure drug Ocedurenone. The unusually poor performance spooked investors, and the stock fell 6.7 percent yesterday.

Sales of its flagship drug Wegovy rose 53 per cent to £1.34bn between April and June.

But analysts had forecast sales would reach £1.56bn. Ozempic’s sales also missed expectations.

Still, the company saw its total sales rise 25 per cent to £15.4 billion during the first six months of the year.