Sales of Wegovy weight loss drugs are increasing for Novo Nordisk

Sale of Novo Nordisk (NVO-1.87%) Blockbusters Weight loss drug Wegovy continue to rise and exceed Wall Street’s expectations. The Danish pharmaceutical giant released its third-quarter earnings report early Tuesday morning and boasted sales figures that exceeded analysts’ forecasts.

“We are satisfied with the performance in the first nine months of 2024. Sales growth is driven by increasing demand for our GLP-1-based diabetes and obesity treatments, and we are serving more patients than ever before,” Novo Nordisk CEO Lars Fruergaard Jørgensen said in a statement.

Sales of the company’s weight loss drug Wegovy rose 79% to 17.3 billion Danish kroner ($2.5 billion) in the third quarter of 2024, compared to 9.6 billion Danish kroner ($1.37 billion) in the same period last year. The drug beat analysts’ expectations of $2.3 billion, according to a FactSet consensus estimate (FDS+0.64%)

Ozempic and prescription weight loss medications: How they work, what they cost, side effects and everything you need to know

Wegovy belongs to a class of drugs known as GLP-1 drugs – made popular by the Novo Nordisk’s diabetes treatment Ozempic. These drugs mimic a hormone that regulates appetite and blood sugar and have become popular in treating obesity and type 2 diabetes. Demand for these drugs has upended Novo Nordisk and its rival Eli Lilly (LLY-4.41%)the manufacturer of the competing drugs Zepbound and Mounjaro largest pharmaceutical company in the world.

Because of her high selling price Due to the rapidly increasing demand, many patients had difficulty getting their medication Hands on these treatments.

Novo Nordisk and Eli Lilly are both currently working on it increase their production of these drugs and to curb the sale of these drugs cheaper off-brand versions of their popular GLP-1 treatments.

Eli Lilly reported its third-quarter results last week, but its blockbuster weight-loss drug fell short of expectations. Sales of Zepbound, which launched last November, reached $1.2 billion in the third quarter of 2024, below analysts’ expectations of $1.7 billion, according to FactSet.