Ozempic Maker Novo Nordisk To Cut 9,000 Jobs Amid Increased Competition

The shaper of nan weight-loss and glucosuria narcotics Ozempic and Wegovy is to trim 9,000 jobs arsenic it issued a profit informing amid accrued title from nan US rival Eli Lilly.

Novo Nordisk’s determination to trim 11% of its world workforce comes arsenic income of its glucosuria narcotics including Ozempic person slowed sharply arsenic it faces fierce competition from Eli Lilly’s Mounjaro jabs and nan threat of US tariffs.

The Danish drugmaker, whose booming income of GLP-1 glucosuria and obesity narcotics successful caller years had turned it into Europe’s astir valuable company, said that 5,000 of nan occupation cuts will beryllium successful its location country, Denmark.

The company’s marketplace worth has slumped by much than 60% complete nan past twelvemonth and it has estimated that nan cuts programme will prevention it 8bn Danish kroner(£930m) a twelvemonth by 2026.

Novo Nordisk said nan occupation cuts will costs 8bn kroner successful restructuring charges, and trim its operating profit maturation forecast for this twelvemonth from 10-16% to 4-10%.

“It is ever difficult to spot talented and weighted colleagues go, but we are convinced that this is nan correct point to do for nan semipermanent occurrence of Novo Nordisk,” said Mike Doustdar, who took complete arsenic nan main executive successful July. “We request a displacement successful our mindset and attack truthful that we tin beryllium faster and much agile.”

Novo Nordisk, which employs 78,400 unit globally, has besides been deed by disappointing objective results of its caller obesity drug, CagriSema, which failed to outperform Eli Lilly’s Mounjaro successful weight loss.

Over nan past 5 years, Novo Nordisk accrued worker numbers by 75% arsenic nan company’s capacity soared because of nan world fame of its Wegovy and Ozempic weight-loss drugs.

Doustdar said that nan company, traditionally a beardown subordinate successful glucosuria treatments, said it needed to germinate to a marketplace wherever obesity narcotics had go “more competitory and consumer-driven”.

He said: “This intends instilling an accrued performance-based culture, deploying our resources ever much effectively, and prioritising finance wherever it will person nan astir effect – down our starring therapy areas.”