Speaking to CNBC’s Early Edition Europe, Chief Executive Officer Mike Doustdar warned, “People should expect that it goes down before it comes back up,” citing pressure from significantly lower US pricing on its blockbuster weight-loss drug Wegovy.
Read more: Emcure Pharma Q3 Results: Strong operating performance but stock gives up gainsHe added that the company had not disclosed the precise scale of the impact, but that it was reflected in the guidance range provided.
The warning followed Novo Nordisk’s forecast that both sales and operating profit in 2026 will decline between 5% and 13%, a far steeper drop than analysts had anticipated.
According to Barclays analysts, some investors may view the outlook as a potential “kitchen sink” forecast that could eventually be beaten, but cautioned, “the same was said last year, and this proved not to be the case.”In July 2025, Novo had cut its 2025 guidance, pointing to challenges in the U.S. market, triggering a 23% one-day share price slump.
Read more: Five stocks, including Tata Motors CV could enter the Nifty Next 50 in March; Check potential inflows
Doustdar told CNBC, “We are creating affordability for the patients, millions of patients that are right now in need of GLP-1 products, but simply could not afford it.” While this creates near-term headwinds, he added, it supports longer-term growth.
The company has flagged pricing challenges in the US, driven by competition from compounding pharmacies offering cheaper versions of semaglutide — the active ingredient in Wegovy and Ozempic — as well as rivalry from US drugmaker Eli Lilly.
Sentiment had improved earlier this year after the US’s launch of Wegovy in pill form exceeded expectations. Doustdar said, “We knew it’s going to be the best in terms of efficacy of 16.6% we had expected it to do well, but we did not think that after four weeks of introduction, we will have 170,000 people on the pill.”
However, he acknowledged that pricing pressure on Novo’s existing business outweighed the early success of the pill launch.
Despite efforts by the company to temper expectations ahead of its full-year results, the scale of the guidance revision surprised the market. HSBC analyst Rajesh Kumar said the key question now is whether the recovery will resemble a gradual “Nike swoosh” or a more prolonged U-shaped rebound.
