Compounding Novo Nordisk slashes Wegovy gross sales forecasts, blames compounding. : Pictures

Novo Nordisk’s shares plunged greater than 20% Tuesday, after the corporate reduce the forecast for its flagship weight problems drug.

Earlier than the markets opened, the firm introduced that gross sales of its weight problems medication, Wegovy, are anticipated to develop not more than 14% this 12 months. That is down from its prediction of as much as 21% on Might 7.

The corporate blames cheaper options made by compounding pharmacies, that are allowed to make what are primarily copies of medication after they’re in brief provide. Wegovy and Ozempic, a diabetes drug typically prescribed for weight reduction, had been on the Meals and Drug Administration’s drug scarcity record, paving the way in which for a growth in compounded variations.

The FDA dominated that the scarcity of Wegovy was over earlier this 12 months. However some compounders are testing the authorized panorama. They’re customizing weight problems medication for sufferers by including nutritional vitamins or tweaking doses.

Novo Nordisk says it’s “pursuing a number of” methods to finish the observe, “together with litigation.”

Compounding pharmacies sometimes assist sufferers whose wants aren’t met by present authorized medication. The compounded medication will not be generics, nor do they undergo the FDA’s approval course of. As an alternative, compounding pharmacists tailor medication for particular person sufferers who want them and are principally regulated on the state degree by boards of pharmacy.

For example, if a drug is barely out there as a capsule however an aged affected person cannot swallow one, a health care provider may write a prescription so {that a} compounding pharmacist may put together it in liquid type.

Novo Nordisk additionally introduced a brand new CEO Tuesday, Maziar Mike Doustdar, who has been on the firm for 33 years. He’ll succeed Lars Jorgensen, whose departure was introduced in Might.

“Now, the truth that my announcement comes proper after the steering replace, nicely, it simply makes the mandate forward much more clear,” Doustdar informed buyers on a Tuesday morning name, promising effectivity, progress and shareholder worth.

However Scott Brunner, CEO of the Alliance for Pharmacy Compounding, says Novo Nordisk and its competitor Eli Lilly have misrepresented compounding pharmacists.

“GLP1 compounding is demonstrably not unlawful – although one can argue that saying so offers Novo a useful excuse for having to chop its earnings forecast,” he wrote in an emailed assertion to NPR. “Customized compounded medicines are allowed below the Meals, Drug, & Beauty Act when a prescriber judges {that a} customized formulation, which isn’t out there commercially, will make a big distinction for a specific affected person. That authority applies to any drug that meets the standards for compounding, not simply GLP1s.”

Well being economist Rena Conti says Novo Nordisk’s scenario is “not shocking.”

“Compounding gross sales have elevated dramatically this 12 months as compound pharmacies have [undertaken] aggressive advertising and marketing and different strategies to extend earnings,” says Conti, a professor at Boston College.

She says that Novo Nordisk’s competitor, Eli Lilly, which makes Zepbound, has additionally been gaining new prospects by promoting discounted vials on to shoppers who aren’t utilizing their insurance coverage. It has transformed them from utilizing the compounded variations to the model.

Eli Lilly CEO David Ricks informed NPR in March that each month, roughly 100,000 folks purchase Zepbound immediately from Eli Lilly by way of its web site.

Novo Nordisk’s effort to promote Wegovy on to shoppers paying money hasn’t been as profitable as anticipated, the corporate mentioned.

“As unsafe and illegal mass compounding continues, the Wegovy penetration throughout the money channel has been lower-than-expected,” Novo Nordisk mentioned in its Tuesday morning assertion. “Inside this channel, NovoCare Pharmacy was launched in March 2025. Wegovy prescriptions by way of NovoCare Pharmacy (together with TeleHealth collaborations) quantity to round 11,000 whole weekly prescriptions, along with round 20,000 weekly prescriptions within the retail money channel.”