Summary
- Novo Nordisk shares plunged over 20%, wiping out nearly $93 billion in market value after lowering its 2025 sales and profit growth forecasts.
- The company now expects 2025 sales growth between 8% and 14%, down from 13%-21%, and operating profit growth between 10% and 16%, down from 16%-24%.
- The revision is mainly due to slow U.S. market expansion, continued use of compounded GLP-1 drugs, and strong competition from Eli Lilly’s obesity drugs Mounjaro and Zepbound, as well as generic copies.
- Veteran executive Maziar Mike Doustdar was appointed new CEO, effective August 7, replacing Lars Fruergaard Jørgensen; Doustdar is the first non-Dane to lead Novo Nordisk.
- Doustdar faces the challenge of reviving U.S. sales for Ozempic and Wegovy and protecting market share against competition.
- Novo Nordisk has launched legal and lobbying efforts to stop knockoff semaglutide drugs to ensure patient safety.
- Despite strong first-half 2025 results, investor skepticism about near-term recovery persists, and shares continued to decline.
- The company reaffirms long-term commitment to rare diseases and weight-loss treatments, with revised strategies expected at the November capital markets day.
- The U.S. market remains a critical battleground amid regulatory hurdles, intense competition, and slow recovery from compounded drug bans.
Novo Nordisk, the Danish pharmaceutical giant famed for Ozempic and Wegovy, suffered a historic share crash after announcing sharply reduced earnings forecasts and a major executive shakeup. As Maziar Mike Doustdar steps up as CEO, he faces a daunting challenge in stabilizing the company's faltering U.S. business amid fierce competition and regulatory hurdles.
Why Did Novo Nordisk’s Shares Collapse?
As reported by Yahoo Finance and Bloomberg, Novo Nordisk’s shares tumbled more than 20% on July 29, with the steep decline wiping out approximately $93 billion in market capitalization—its lowest stock price in over three years. According to The Wall Street Journal, this translated to a 23.1% daily drop at one stage and marked one of the company’s steepest one-day plunges in recent memory.
Novo Nordisk revised its guidance and warned investors that 2025 sales growth would now range between 8% and 14%, a notable reduction from the previously anticipated 13%-21%. Operating profit growth expectations were also slashed to 10%-16%, down from up to 24%. The company attributed this revision primarily to weaker-than-expected U.S. sales of blockbuster drugs Wegovy and Ozempic. The emergence and persistence of copycat and compounded versions of GLP-1 drugs undercut official product sales, especially as cheaper alternatives remained available even after the FDA ended its shortage designation for GLP-1s in April 2025.
Who Is the New CEO, and What Is His Mandate?
According to Reuters and Euronews, in the aftermath of the financial miss, Novo Nordisk announced that longtime executive Maziar Mike Doustdar would assume the role of CEO effective August 7, replacing Lars Fruergaard Jørgensen, who was earlier removed over mounting concerns about strategic direction and financial underperformance. This appointment makes Doustdar—formerly Executive Vice President for International Operations and an insider of more than 30 years—the first non-Dane to lead the company.
On the day of his introduction, as reported by The New York Times, Doustdar candidly told reporters,
“I don’t like it. I don’t like it as an employee. I don’t like it as a CEO-elect, and I certainly don’t like it as a shareholder myself."
He underscored the urgency of meeting targets and regaining lost ground in core markets.
What U.S. Market Challenges Has Novo Nordisk Encountered?
In coverage by CBS News, The New York Times, and Bloomberg, the principal source of Novo Nordisk's struggles is the intensely competitive U.S. market for diabetes and weight-loss drugs. This year saw not only the continued dominance of Eli Lilly’s rival obesity drugs, Mounjaro and Zepbound, but also heightened market penetration by compounded and generic versions of semaglutide, which many patients accessed at lower costs.
Though the FDA ordered compounding pharmacies to cease selling copycat GLP-1s following the end of the shortage in April, compounded medications continued to reach consumers—a reality that dampened Novo Nordisk’s hopes of quickly reclaiming market share. Former CEO Jørgensen noted that over a million patients in the U.S. still use these compounded drugs despite the regulatory crackdown.
Medical contributor Dr. Céline Gounder, speaking to CBS News, emphasized that compounded drugs often exhibit wide variability in quality and risk, and the absence of strict oversight increases safety concerns for patients. In June, Novo Nordisk even ended its partnership with telehealth provider Hims & Hers, alleging the company sold unauthorized versions of Wegovy.
Novo Nordisk underscored in its statement that it will "pursue multiple avenues to 'protect patients from knockoff “semaglutide” drugs'", including legal action and urging for stricter federal and state enforcement.
How Has the Market Responded to Novo Nordisk’s Strategic Moves?
According to reporting by Bloomberg and Reuters, investors and analysts now view the appointment of Doustdar as a make-or-break moment for Novo Nordisk’s U.S. ambitions. Jefferies analyst Mark Hanson told Yahoo Finance that the guidance cut “signals increasing competition and pricing pressures within the insulin sector, along with the effects of changes in U.S. reimbursement policies”.
Despite solid first-half 2025 results—sales up 18% and operating profit up 29%—the sustained competitive threats and loss of market share to Eli Lilly and generics have created skepticism about immediate recovery. On July 30, CNBC reported shares continuing their slide, down another 2.5% one day after the initial rout.
Some investors have shifted focus to competitor Eli Lilly, whose shares saw a 5.6% drop in sympathy but remain buoyed by their own blockbuster anti-obesity portfolio.
What Are Novo Nordisk’s Plans for Recovery and Strategic Direction?
Despite the turmoil, Novo Nordisk has reaffirmed its focus on expanding its reach into rare diseases and weight-loss treatments, with revised mid-term goals expected to be shared at its capital markets day in November. The company’s efforts to litigate against the sale of unauthorized semaglutide, intensify lobbying, and bolster innovation in core products remain at the forefront of its recovery plans.
Sales for the first half of the year were strong, but the outlook for the next half remains muted without a rapid recapture of lost U.S. market share—an outcome analysts deem challenging given entrenched competition.
In summary, Novo Nordisk faces a critical crossroads: its steep share plunge, lowered outlooks, and leadership shakeup have spotlighted fundamental challenges in the rapidly evolving U.S. weight-loss drug marketplace. The company’s future now hinges on new CEO Doustdar’s ability to defend marquee products from generics, win back trust from investors and patients, and deliver on once-lofty growth ambitions.