COPENHAGEN — Novo Nordisk, the Danish drug maker behind Ozempic and Wegovy, said on Wednesday it would cut 9,000 jobs worldwide as pressure mounts in the global race for weight-loss drugs.
The cuts represent about 11 percent of its staff. More than half will fall in Denmark, where the company is based. The move comes as demand for its blockbuster injections slows and competitors close in.
“Our markets are evolving, particularly in obesity, as it has become more competitive and consumer-driven. Our company must evolve as well,” said chief executive Mike Doustdar, who took over in August.
The company hopes to save eight billion kroner — about $1.3 billion — through the layoffs. It also lowered its profit outlook for the third time this year, forecasting operating profit growth of just four to 10 percent. Earlier it had expected as much as 16 percent.
Novo Nordisk had been Europe’s most valuable company last year, buoyed by soaring demand for Ozempic and Wegovy. The injections, originally developed for diabetes, became wildly popular for weight loss after trending on social media. The company expanded quickly, doubling its workforce from 43,700 in 2020 to more than 78,000 today.
But momentum has slowed. Rival Eli Lilly has surged with its own obesity treatments. In the United States, shortages of Wegovy also prompted regulators to allow pharmacies to make temporary copycat versions. That authorisation has expired, but Novo Nordisk said last month that generics were still being sold “under the false guise of personalisation.”
Ozempic and Wegovy both work by mimicking GLP-1, a hormone that regulates blood sugar and appetite. Analysts say they have transformed the treatment of obesity, but production bottlenecks and rival launches have narrowed Novo Nordisk’s lead.
“This means instilling an increased performance-based culture, deploying our resources more effectively, and prioritising investment where it will have the most impact,” Doustdar said.
The company called the restructuring a way to “simplify” operations and re-focus on its strengths in diabetes and obesity. But the scale of the cuts underscores how quickly fortunes can shift in the high-stakes world of weight-loss medicine.
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