DANISH DRUGMAKER NOVO Nordisk, maker of the diabetes and weight-loss treatments Ozempic and Wegovy, today said its net profit jumped by 21% last year to 100 billion Danish kroner (€13.4 billion).

Europe’s most valuable company said its sales rose 25% to 290.4 billion Danish kroner (€38.9b), propelled by its popular injections.

“We are pleased with the performance in 2024,” chief executive Lars Fruergaard Jorgensen said in a statement, adding that “more than 45 million people are now benefiting from our treatments”.

Ozempic, which accounts for 4% of the company’s sales, is an injectable anti-diabetic treatment that became wildly popular on social networks for its slimming properties.

In the company’s annual report, Novo Nordisk remarked that demand for Ozempic “soared” throughout last year.

The annual report stated that Novo Nordisk would continue to invest heavily in expanding production capacity for Ozempic in order to “stabilise supply and ensure that Ozempic remains accessible to the growing number of patients who have already initiated treatment”.

Novo Nordisk meanwhile launched the anti-obesity drug Wegovy in the United States in 2021 and it is now available in more than 15 markets globally.

The company said the popularity of Wegovy is “driven by the rising global prevalence of obesity – which has more than tripled over the past 50 years – and a broader shift in the perception of treatment”.

“Once considered a lifestyle issue, obesity is now widely recognised as a serious chronic disease that requires medical intervention,” said Novo Nordisk.

It added that a “proportion of Wegovy volumes is being allocated in every launch market for people with a high medical need and low socioeconomic status”.

Novo Nordisk also states that the company’s “strategic aspiration remains to build a portfolio of superior treatment options in obesity and focus on efficacy, safety and scalability” and that “meeting unmet needs in obesity is a critical focus area”.

-With additional reporting from © AFP 2025 

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