Shares in Novo have slumped despite the drugmaker outlining a five-year commercial strategy in a bid to return to winning ways.
At its Capital Markets Day on 21 September, Novo’s strategy was headlined by an ambition to launch more than five multi-blockbusters by 2030. This is accompanied by a target to deliver more than DKr150bn ($23bn) in sales.
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The moves are part of Novo’s strategy to showcase to investors what its roadmap looks like beyond semaglutide. The injectable versions of the drug, branded under Wegovy and Ozempic, generated around $7.8bn in global sales in Q2. However, the company is lagging Eli Lilly in the cardiometabolic space. The US big pharma company’s tirzepatide sales, which combines Zepbound and Mounjaro, reached just shy of $15bn in sales in Q2.
On the same day as its Capital Markets event, Novo’s obesity pipeline was bolstered by a readout from the Phase III REIMAGINE 5 (NCT06534411), evaluating the company’s next-generation glucagon-like peptide-1 receptor-agonist (GLP-1RA) CagriSema (cagrilintide and semaglutide) against tirzepatide. While only a comparison to the lower dose of Lilly’s product, CagriSema delivered superior weight loss in overweight and obese adults. CagriSema – touted as a successor to Wegovy – has previously disappointed in clinical trials, making the readout an important win for Novo, though analysts will keep an eye on studies that pit it against tirzepatide’s highest dose.
CagriSema could become a future blockbuster, though these targets are just one part of Novo’s wider pipeline diversification initiative. The company aims to have more than five Phase III programmes in obesity and diabetes by 2030, and more than five Phase III programmes in other therapy areas by the same year. Some of these could come via indications such as metabolic dysfunction-associated steatohepatitis (MASH). Novo spent $5.2bn to acquire MASH specialist Akero Therapeutics in October 2025. In a Q2 earnings call, CEO Maziar Mike Doustdar said bolt-on acquisitions are an avenue it will pursue to boost pipeline offerings.
The strategic ambition for 2030 involves delivering 2026-30 revenue CAGR in line with industry peers, and also scaling capacity to harness its oral version of Wegovy, which gained US approval in December 2025. Within five years, the company aims to serve 10 times the number of people with obesity taking the pill-based option.
The strategy was met with blunt investor reception. Shares in the Copenhagen-listed company dropped 5% at market open on 21 September compared to the previous market close. The share price has tumbled more than 70% since its peak in mid-2024. For a while, Novo was the most valuable company in Europe.
In a research note, Citi analysts said: “Novo’s Capital Markets Day offered little to change our cautious view with mid-single-digit topline growth ambition for 26-30E in line with consensus. M&A focus remains bolt-on, but management did not rule out a large transaction, creating some inherent risk.”
Stock movement was also impacted by the revelation that Novo shed 13,000 staff in the past year, which was also disclosed on Monday.
The strategy comes after a busy week of news for Novo. On 14 September, it announced a major rebrand. While still legally known as Novo Nordisk, the drugmaker will now be known solely as Novo in its day-to-day activities.
A few days later, Novo announced separate partnerships with AI giant Anthropic and macrocycle therapy specialist Orbis Medicines. The latter deal, which is worth up to $1.4bn, will likely be another source of pipeline diversity for Novo in the near future.
