COPENHAGEN (Reuters) – Diabetes and obesity drug developer Novo Nordisk on Thursday raised its full-year operating profit and sales growth expectations on the back of stronger expected sales of its Wegovy obesity drug.
“The sales outlook for 2023 is raised, primarily reflecting Wegovy prescription trends in the first quarter and higher full-year expectations for sales of Wegovy in the U.S.,” Novo Nordisk said in a statement.
Novo now expects sales growth in local currencies for 2023 to come in between 24% and 30% and operating profit growth between 28% and 34%, up from a February guidance of between 13% and 19% for both those numbers.
The guidance upgrade also partly reflected higher expected sales of its Ozempic diabetes drug, which is based on the same active ingredient as Wegovy.
A second contract manufacturer is ready to begin production of Wegovy, which would increase supply, Novo also said on Thursday.
In the first quarter of this year, Novo’s sales increased by 25% and operating profit rose by 28% in local currencies, the company said. Novo will present full financial results for the first quarter on May 4.
(Reporting by Nikolaj Skydsgaard, editing by Terje Solsvik)
