𝓤𝓷𝓲𝓽𝓮𝓭 𝓝𝓮𝔀𝓼

Weight loss drug maker Novo Nordisk has seen shares slump after warning over a sales plunge amid price cuts while a bumper profit haul from its Mounjaro rival Eli Lilly left it trailing behind.

Novo Nordisk – which makes Wegovy and Ozempic – forecast plunging sales in a surprise after-market announcement on Tuesday, which saw the Danish drugmaker’s shares plummet by nearly a fifth on Wednesday.

It said both sales and underlying earnings are expected to fall by between 5% and 13% this year despite the launch of its new Wegovy pill in the US, and chief executive Mike Doustdar cautioned the firm was facing pricing pressures as competition from cheaper rivals intensifies.

But its close rival Eli Lilly was enjoying better fortunes as its full-year results on Wednesday showed pre-tax earnings more than doubled to 25.73 billion US dollars (£18.8 billion).

Sales of its blockbuster Mounjaro weight loss drug doubled to 23 billion dollars (£16.8 billion) in 2025, having enjoyed a 110% surge in the final three months alone.

Eli Lilly’s shares jumped 8% on Wednesday afternoon as it said revenues were set to grow again to between 80 billion and 83 billion dollars (£58.5 billion to £60.6 billion) in 2026, up from 65.2 billion dollars (£47.6 billion) in 2025.

Dan Coatsworth, head of markets at AJ Bell, said: “The weight-loss drugs market has exploded in what many people are calling the biggest opportunity in the healthcare industry for decades.

“Even though the market is dominated by just two players, one of them is feeling more pain than gain.

“Novo Nordisk has fallen behind with efforts to improve the efficacy of its treatments, leaving Eli Lilly to gobble up market share.

“Drug prices are coming down more broadly across the areas in which Novo specialises, and competition is growing.

“It has put the company in a difficult situation, and investors are unhappy, particularly as the healthcare sector more broadly has enjoyed a strong rally since last summer following three years in the doldrums.”

Prices have been put under further pressure for the main players after Novo Nordisk and Eli Lilly agreed a plan to appease US President Donald Trump by reducing prices across their ranges and expanding access to them for those on health insurance in America.

Novo Nordisk said its sales outlook is “impacted by lower realised prices, including impacts related to the ‘Most Favoured Nations’ agreement in the US and the patent expiry of the semaglutide molecule in certain international operations markets, as well as competition”.

Mr Doustdar added: “In 2026, Novo Nordisk will face pricing headwinds in an increasingly competitive market.

“However, we are very encouraged by the promising early uptake from the US launch of Wegovy pill, and we remain confident in our ability to drive volume growth over the coming years.”

Its 2025 results showed earnings slipped 1% to 127.7 billion Danish kroner (£14.8 billion) as net sales rose 6%.