COPENHAGEN: Danish pharmaceutical large Novo Nordisk introduced on Wednesday (Sep 10) that it will reduce 11 per cent of its workforce, because the maker of Ozempic and Wegovy faces rising competitors for its anti-obesity remedies.
The drug maker mentioned in an announcement it will save 8 billion kroner (US$1.3 billion) by slashing 9,000 jobs, together with 5,000 in Denmark, throughout the corporate.
And for the third time this yr, the corporate lowered its earnings forecast – it now expects working revenue progress of between 4 per cent and 10 per cent, down from 10percent to 16 per cent beforehand.
Novo Nordisk mentioned the job cuts have been a part of a “company-wide transformation to simplify its organisation, enhance the velocity of decision-making and reallocate sources in direction of the corporate’s progress alternatives in diabetes and weight problems”.
The recognition of Novo Nordisk’s weight-loss injections had as soon as made it a darling of buyers, boosting its share value and at one level making it Europe’s most useful firm.
It went on a hiring spree, elevating its workforce from 43,700 in 2020 to 78,400 right this moment.
However its share value has been tanking since final yr, and gross sales have slowed as competitors grows from rival remedies in its key market, the US.
“Our markets are evolving, notably in weight problems, because it has turn out to be extra aggressive and consumer-driven. Our firm should evolve as properly,” Novo Nordisk chief government Mike Doustdar mentioned within the assertion.
“This implies instilling an elevated performance-based tradition, deploying our sources ever extra successfully, and prioritising funding the place it’s going to have probably the most influence – behind our main remedy areas,” mentioned Doustdar, who succeeded Lars Fruergaard Jorgensen in August.
COPYCATS
Novo Nordisk faces stiff competitors from rival remedies made by US group Eli Lilly.
The Danish firm’s restricted manufacturing capability had additionally led the US Meals and Drug Administration to briefly permit pharmacies to create so-called “compound” or copycat variations of Ozempic and Wegovy.
The authorisation expired on Could 22, however Novo Nordisk mentioned final month that gross sales of generic variations of its remedies have been persevering with “below the false guise of ‘personalisation'”.
Ozempic is an injectable anti-diabetic therapy that turned widespread on social media for its slimming properties.
Wegovy, which has the identical lively ingredient as Ozempic in a distinct dose, is a weight-loss drug.
The remedies use analogues of the hormone GLP-1, which regulates blood glucose ranges and urge for food.
Novo Nordisk mentioned on Wednesday that its “transformation” plan mirrored “the corporate’s dedication to fulfill rising world demand whereas additionally competing in a extra dynamic and consumer-driven weight problems market, as evidenced by the current slowdown in progress”.
