Novo Nordisk’s CEO Teases New Strategery as Ozempic’s 4th “Diet Plan” Turns Into a Fasting Crisis

Ozempic’s new formula is so good, it’s cutting the fat off everyone… including Novo Nordisk’s profits…

After two years of being the world’s favorite legal drug dealer, Novo Nordisk (-4.5%) is finding out the miracle-drug era has an expiration date. The Danish drugmaker behind Ozempic and Wegovy cut its growth outlook again (for the fourth time this year) blaming the usuals… fierce competition, pricing pressure, and copycat versions of its drugs flooding the market.

Quarterly profits came in at $3.1 billion, right in line with expectations, but the vibe was off. Sales of Wegovy rose 18% to $3.2 billion, missing analyst targets, while Ozempic eked out a 9% gain to $4.8 billion. Shares dropped 4.5% before clawing back some losses, but they’re still down nearly 50% in 2025… which, ironically, is the exact result Wegovy users are hoping for.

(Source: Reuters)

The company now expects sales growth of just 8–11%, down from 14%, and operating profit growth between 4-7%. Not long ago, it was projecting up to 27%. That’s what happens when Eli Lilly’s (+0.3%) Mounjaro and Zepbound start stealing your secret recipes (and your patients). To add even more salt to the wound, studies show Lilly’s injections outperform Wegovy, and doctors have noticed.

Meanwhile, compounding pharmacies (the mom-and-pop chemists of the pharma world) are still cooking up off-brand semaglutide for cheap, even though the FDA’s shortage designation ended months ago. Novo says it’s trying to stop the “unlawful and unsafe” practice, but you can bet Hims & Hers Health (-25.7%) and every telehealth hustler on TikTok will milk that loophole until the cows come home.

It’s been a baptism by fire for Mike Doustdar, Novo Nordisk’s new CEO. He took charge just as the company’s miracle-drug era began to fade, and he’s doing anything he can to slow the damage. His latest rabbit in the hat trick is going toe-to-toe with Pfizer in a $10 billion bidding war for Metsera, a U.S. biotech with a pipeline full of next-gen weight-loss treatments. (You know a business is in trouble when they start throwing out the buzzword “next-gen” or my favorite “transformational”).

It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to figure out what’s at stake… if Doustdar wins, Novo gets a few fresh contenders in the GLP-1 showdown. If he loses, the message to Wall Street is that the thicc profits from Ozempic have officially left the building. I’ve got to say, I knew this craze wouldn’t last forever… but man, I didn’t think it would be slowing down this fast.

At the time of publishing this article, Stocks.News doesn’t hold positions in companies mentioned in the article.