The maker of Ozempic announced today that its profits have hit an all-time high thanks to the huge success of its groundbreaking weight loss jabs.
Danish pharmaceutical titan Novo Nordisk raked in £4.5 billion during the first half of 2023 – up by a third, or £1.3 billion on the previous spell.
The company’s bosses attributed skyrocketing demand to the weekly semaglutide shots, which have been proven to help overweight patients lose up to 21 pounds in just over a year. Doctors are giving the drug to “more patients than ever before,” Novo Nordisk said.
But the intense demand, now felt around the world, is causing huge supply problems.
Wegovy, another version of semaglutide, has yet to be officially launched in the UK.
Semaglutide, marketed as Wegovy for overweight or obese people
Celebrities such as Elon Musk, Jeremy Clarkson and Remi Bader have spoken out about the ‘truly incredible’ Ozempic, which suppresses appetite and makes users feel fuller
Danish pharmaceutical giant Novo Nordisk raked in £4.5bn in the first half of 2023 – an increase of a third, or £1.3bn, on the previous period
Novo Nordisk expects huge demand and wants to replenish stock before distribution, MailOnline understands.
It will only be given to overweight people, unlike Ozempic, which is only approved for diabetics.
The company is also limiting supply in the US as it struggles to keep up with demand.
Semaglutide works by hijacking the brain to suppress appetite and reduce calorie intake, resulting in significant weight loss. It does this by mimicking the hormone glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1), which is released after eating.
It was nicknamed Hollywood’s worst kept secret when it hit the scene, with fans like Elon Musk and Jeremy Clarkson.
Even Kim Kardashian would have used it to quickly lose 7.3kg to fit into Marilyn Monroe’s iconic ‘Happy Birthday Mr President’ dress at the 2022 Met Gala.
Novo Nordisk’s financial report for the first half of 2023 shows it has made a net profit of DKK 39.2 billion (£4.5 billion), compared to DKK 27.5 billion (£3.2 billion) last year. year.
The company – Europe’s second most valuable publicly traded company behind luxury goods company LVMH – said the trend was “primarily driven by” a 49 percent increase in sales of its GLP-1 diabetes drugs.
In total, sales of these drugs amounted to 99 billion kroner (£11.5 billion).
Lars Fruergaard Jørgensen, president and CEO of Novo Nordisk, said: “We are very pleased with the sales growth in the first half of 2023.
“Growth is driven by increasing demand for our GLP-1-based treatments for diabetes and obesity, and we are serving more patients than ever before.”
He added that obesity is aserious chronic diseases’ and weight-related conditions ‘can be significantly reduced by treating people with semaglutide’.
It comes after a study this week of 17,600 people showed that overweight or obese adults who take Wegovy are one-fifth less likely to have heart attacks and strokes.
Wegovy and Ozempic, both of which contain semaglutide, work by prompting the body to produce a hormone called glucagon-like peptide-1, which is released naturally from the gut after meals.
Top Gear presenter Jeremy Clarkson (left) revealed this month that he used Ozempic to lose weight. When asked in October whether following a healthier diet or going to the gym was the cause of his 30-pound (13.6 kg) weight loss, Elon Musk (right) cited “fasting” and “Wegovy”
Trial results show that nine in ten Wegovy users lose five percent of their body weight over the course of 68 weeks, while three in ten lose a fifth.
Participants also reduced their calorie intake and increased the amount of exercise they did.
However, like all medications, it has side effects.
Headache, vomiting and diarrhea are among the most common. Some also experience acid indigestion, fatigue, and complain that food tastes different after taking the drug.
It’s this side effect that some people attribute to their continued weight loss – making their favorite junk food taste bad.
Other rarer side effects include gallstones, inflammation of your pancreas — known medically as pancreatitis — and an increased risk of low blood sugar and kidney problems.
The jab is also under investigation due to fears that it causes cancer after studies in mice and rats suggested semaglutide might increase the risk of medullary thyroid cancer.
Trials have shown that users can quickly put on weight again once they stop taking the fat-fighting drug.
In March, Wegovy was approved by the UK’s drug watchdog for up to 4 million Britons with one weight-related condition and a BMI of 30 or higher.
The drug has been available for weight management in the US since 2021, but has yet to launch in the UK due to supply issues.
Despite being hailed as one of the most powerful pharmaceutical tools to date, experts have warned that it is not a “magic pill” or panacea. Trials have shown that users can quickly regain pounds once they stop taking the fat-fighting drug, and it can cause a variety of unpleasant side effects. Users often complain of nausea, constipation and diarrhea after taking the medication
A British study found that people taking Wegovy lost weight quickly, losing 18% of their weight over 68 weeks. They regained two-thirds of that weight, or 12% of their original body weight in the year after they dropped the weekly injections. Experts say the drug should be used for a lifetime to keep the pounds off
Meanwhile, Ozempic is given to type 2 diabetics to control their blood glucose levels.
However, since it uses the same ingredient, it can boost weight loss.
But the clamor for semaglutide as a weight-loss drug has led doctors and pharmacists to prescribe the diabetes drug to people who just want to lose weight.
Health officials warned last month that off-label prescribing is strongly discouraged for those looking to tip the scales, as it could leave diabetic patients without their essential medications.
Amid difficulties keeping up with demand, Novo Nordisk confirmed it would continue to limit supplies of Wegovy in the US to ensure there are enough doses for existing patients.
Mr Jorgensen said: ‘We’ve seen that the initiative we took earlier this year, limiting the starting dose, has actually helped manage that dynamic. So we want to expand that in the coming quarters.’