Speaker 1: Bloomberg Audio Studios, podcasts, radio news. So Novo has been
Speaker 1: facing increased competition from compounding pharmacies of your drugs in
Speaker 1: the US. The shortage is now over, so those compounded
Speaker 1: versions won't be selling after May twenty second, your CFO
Speaker 1: Tol Bloomberg earlier today that you expect to see a
Speaker 1: step up in business as a result. But at the
Speaker 1: same time, you lowered your full year forecast this morning
Speaker 1: due to that increased competition, and I wonder how we
Speaker 1: should be thinking about squaring that circle.
Speaker 2: Yeah, you're right that we are now in situation where
Speaker 2: we can supply the domain in the US and if
Speaker 2: they has taken us off the drog shows list, and
Speaker 2: that means that it's illegal to do compounding, so that
Speaker 2: has to stop, and that creates the opportunity for us
Speaker 2: to drive a bigger growth in the scripts for the legitimate,
Speaker 2: high quality product from Norman Audis. And when we lower
Speaker 2: the guidance for the folio is really because of what
Speaker 2: the impact was of compounding in the third quarter and
Speaker 2: probably also a bit into the second quarter, and we
Speaker 2: have a relative steep compared to in the second half
Speaker 2: of the year. So you should see this this guidance
Speaker 2: as one of us really stepping up in the second
Speaker 2: half of the year and getting to more and more
Speaker 2: patients and really moving forward in a business environment with
Speaker 2: a much much lower compounded share of the business really
Speaker 2: down to the rare cases where personalized is really needed,
Speaker 2: no bulk compounding taking place.
Speaker 1: And so I mean, at the same time, this is
Speaker 1: good news for Novo, but it's also good news for
Speaker 1: your competition, Eli Lilly, who also has been facing increased
Speaker 1: competition from compounders. So I mean in terms of the
Speaker 1: sort of doopoly that's developed between Eli Lilly and between
Speaker 1: Novodoor Risks when it comes to the GLP one market,
Speaker 1: how do you see that playing out now that the
Speaker 1: era of compounding seems to be ending.
Speaker 2: Yeah, I think it's a good point. It's really important
Speaker 2: for no compounding because if you have an environment where
Speaker 2: you can compound pattern protected branded products, basically.
Speaker 3: That's the end of innovation.
Speaker 2: So of course this is a benefit for both our
Speaker 2: competition ourselves that this is now moving out of the
Speaker 2: of the equation and then it's back to really drive
Speaker 2: growth of the market. Together will really be only serving
Speaker 2: a fraction of the market. Uh, you know, a few
Speaker 2: million patients living with obesity. So now it's back to
Speaker 2: the classical commercial tactics explaining the value of the brands,
Speaker 2: explaining the benefit of being on treatment. Of course, we
Speaker 2: encouraged by the fact that we have the only obesient medicine,
Speaker 2: will label that it protects for card rescue disease, and
Speaker 2: we'll also expect in the second half the year to
Speaker 2: have if they approval for a labeled.
Speaker 3: Benefit of mass this fed delivered disease.
Speaker 2: Where we really have the best data, best evidence of
Speaker 2: any product in the market, and this is a significant
Speaker 2: no medical need somewhere asmissed you about how we can
Speaker 2: drive growth of the mark going forward.
Speaker 4: Lars, our own Bloomberg intelligence analyst, take a look that
Speaker 4: Eli Lilly has surpassed on Novo Nordisk for the obesity
Speaker 4: market share by fifty three percent. Now they're beating you.
Speaker 4: How do you compete when your products are relatively the same.
Speaker 2: Well, I think they are different in a number of aspects,
Speaker 2: and I would just like to underline that when you
Speaker 2: look at the global supply of deal one products, where
Speaker 2: we are really serving the mark based on our simple
Speaker 2: gluetide molecule. Globally, we have two thirds of the world market,
Speaker 2: so two thirds of all patients are on treatment from
Speaker 2: low noise, so.
Speaker 3: We are the leader in the globally.
Speaker 2: Of course, short term it's difficult to assess the real
Speaker 2: competitiveness when you have compounded products, and we happen to
Speaker 2: believe that perhaps compounding has developed in to say a
Speaker 2: third of the market, so that is as big as
Speaker 2: a business from US, So we of course hope to
Speaker 2: get our fair share of that back and that will,
Speaker 2: you know, I think, create a stronger and more fair
Speaker 2: representation of the underlying competitiveness of the brands in the market.
Speaker 4: Along the same lines, you and Lily are also very
Speaker 4: much focused on an oral pill to fight obesity as well.
Speaker 4: How are you going to price this product and so
Speaker 4: keep it competitive?
Speaker 3: Yeah, you're right.
Speaker 2: We have submitted to the FDA here back in February
Speaker 2: the first all obesity medicine of a GP one, so
Speaker 2: we are head of competition here. We expect a regulatory
Speaker 2: decision around the turn of the years, so we can
Speaker 2: launch in the beginning of next year in the US.
Speaker 2: And this is a product that basically basically it's a
Speaker 2: begovi in a pill, so it comes with the figacy
Speaker 2: of Regovy and it comes with the proven safety that
Speaker 2: comes from having more than thirty million.
Speaker 3: Patient years of data.
Speaker 2: And I think that's a tremendous body of evidence for
Speaker 2: clinicians and for patients to really go to ificationous treatment
Speaker 2: that's also safe. And we've all are submitted again here
Speaker 2: the CUD of escual protective data, which is something competitions
Speaker 2: does not have. So if you can see safety, proven
Speaker 2: track record and CV benefit, those would be key selling
Speaker 2: points for us.
Speaker 1: Well, let's talk a little bit more about the competitive
Speaker 1: landscape because earlier this month you had CVS drop lily
Speaker 1: zet bound as a preferred drug on one of their lists.
Speaker 1: You also partnered with CVS to increase the use of
Speaker 1: way GOVY and I'm interested here, Lars, have any other
Speaker 1: PBMs beyond CBS Care March approached you with request to
Speaker 1: do some more of these exclusive access deals. Is this
Speaker 1: something that you're looking to replicate in the future.
Speaker 2: Yeah, you're touched on a great point here. We have
Speaker 2: a long term, stronger partnership with CBS, and I think
Speaker 2: it's important to note here that is a classical demand
Speaker 2: from a payer like CVS and other PBMs to ask
Speaker 2: for exclussivity. But it's important line here that we did
Speaker 2: not bid for an exclusive position, and I.
Speaker 3: Think it's it's it's.
Speaker 2: Not something that's attractive for the manufacturers in the in
Speaker 2: the market. So it might be that there's a man
Speaker 2: demand for it, but I don't think PBMs will will
Speaker 2: actually get bits.
Speaker 3: That's a link to actressivity.
Speaker 2: And we did not bid that here either. So I
Speaker 2: think it's important to to underlign the the partnership we
Speaker 2: help with SEVERS because I think that's the trusted the
Speaker 2: relationship and the fact that they actually chose with GOV
Speaker 2: based on the experience they have in the market of
Speaker 2: weight loss, the CV benefit and also, as I mentioned,
Speaker 2: mass is an important new indication for us to potentially
Speaker 2: get on label later this year, and that's a real
Speaker 2: health issue. And here you get saying one product the
Speaker 2: best mass data that's ever been shown, and you get
Speaker 2: it in the in the price you're already paying for
Speaker 2: for we GOOB. I think that's a really really good
Speaker 2: deal for a payer, hitting more birds with one stone,
Speaker 2: so to say.
Speaker 1: Appreciate that context there. It's hard to talk to any
Speaker 1: CEO without talking about politics in this moment, and that's
Speaker 1: exactly where I'm going to go right now. We've heard
Speaker 1: from the Trump administration that they're thinking about considering tariffs
Speaker 1: on farm a broadly, and I'm curious about how that
Speaker 1: could affect no vote artistic.
Speaker 3: I know that you have some.
Speaker 1: US manufacturing presence, of course with the cattle lit deal.
Speaker 1: Are you thinking about shifting even more production to the
Speaker 1: US or even potentially stockpiling certain drugs? What does your
Speaker 1: planning look like right now.
Speaker 2: Yeah, that's a great topic, and it's one of those
Speaker 2: that's a bit difficult to predict right now because there
Speaker 2: are quite a number of different messages coming out. If
Speaker 2: you look at our all manuffacting footprint, that's one of
Speaker 2: having invested significantly in the US. You know, specifically, we
Speaker 2: invested twenty four billion dollars in the US say operations
Speaker 2: over the past ten years. We have moderntier thousand people
Speaker 2: working for US in the US, and we actually produce
Speaker 2: and export more from the US than we import to
Speaker 2: the US. So when other companies were moving manufacturing out
Speaker 2: of the US to perhaps save tax, that was actually
Speaker 2: a time where we started dropping down and investing in
Speaker 2: the US. So we have api manufacturing in the US.
Speaker 2: We have field finished products. And when you talk about
Speaker 2: an all businity treatment like THEGOVI in a pill, that's
Speaker 2: actually one hundred percent produced in the US. The API
Speaker 2: is made in the US, the tableting is done in
Speaker 2: the US, the packaging is done in the US, so
Speaker 2: it's really a US made product to Americans. So I
Speaker 2: think we have a good setup. Like all global companies.
Speaker 2: Of course, we are products moving forth and back. But
Speaker 2: the underlying basis is that we export more from the
Speaker 2: US than we import through the US.
Speaker 4: So lars, does that imply that the ingredients also that
Speaker 4: you use to manufacture them are also made in the
Speaker 4: US or is that going to be a risk?
Speaker 3: Yes?
Speaker 2: Yes, So if you take again we go in a pill,
Speaker 2: all of that is produced in the US.
Speaker 3: We don't know.
Speaker 2: We do mainly biological manufacturing, so we don't import chemicals
Speaker 2: from China, India or other places in the world. It's
Speaker 2: biologic manufacturing done in the US. But of course we
Speaker 2: also have cases where we explore API from the US
Speaker 2: to Europe and we export from Europe to the US,
Speaker 2: so there are products crossing the border. But again, as
Speaker 2: I mentioned, we export more from the US than we
Speaker 2: import to the US, and that also means that over
Speaker 2: time we could localize more and more in the US,
Speaker 2: and we are also expanding and investing more in the US.
Speaker 2: And you know, we also have a big number we
Speaker 2: can mention if need be. But I think the proof
Speaker 2: point is that we did not leave the US. We
Speaker 2: actually stayed and we double it down to today's situation
Speaker 2: where we export more from the US than we import
Speaker 2: to the US. I think that's a great story and
Speaker 2: I think it's aligned with what the Dedminstration is looking for.
Speaker 4: Ending it out here. When it comes to M and
Speaker 4: A and building out your obesity portfolio externally, are there
Speaker 4: gaps you need to fill and what kind of company,
Speaker 4: what kind of biotech company would be interesting?
Speaker 2: Yeah, you know, we're pursuing a leadership position when it
Speaker 2: comes to obesity and including diabetes and fuel disease areas,
Speaker 2: and we have a very very strong internal pipeline. But
Speaker 2: as you say, there are also some gaps we have
Speaker 2: We have instance in licensed true early deals since our
Speaker 2: last report UH in the small molecule space, So there
Speaker 2: are examples of areas we would like to fill, and
Speaker 2: we do that by complementing and ideally do that with
Speaker 2: early assets from biotech company where we can still use
Speaker 2: our capabilities to really add value to it and thereby
Speaker 2: enhance both the quality to patients in terms of what
Speaker 2: they get in the figacy and safety, but also an
Speaker 2: attractive return to our shareholders and lats before we.
Speaker 3: Let you go.
Speaker 1: We're expecting a pretty significant out when it comes to
Speaker 1: oral sema glue tide in the second half of the
Speaker 1: year about sort of the efficacy for Alzheimer's, And I'm
Speaker 1: curious what you're confident is around that. Obviously Alzheimer's has
Speaker 1: been a not that it seems like the former industry
Speaker 1: just can't crack.
Speaker 3: Yeah, you're right, this is a devastating disease.
Speaker 2: I think we all know of family members who are
Speaker 2: suffering from that. I can talk to that myself, having
Speaker 2: family members diagnosed with Alzheimers. So it's a devastating disease.
Speaker 2: Some call it type three diabetes. Having lived with type
Speaker 2: two diabetes, you alt risk of developing Alzheimer's. So of
Speaker 2: course the hypothesis of using semaglutide is an intrust wrong
Speaker 2: because it has this anti inflammatory properties.
Speaker 3: But as you say, it has been a very.
Speaker 2: Difficult clug development space so we have intentionally guided very cautious,
Speaker 2: cautiously on this because we don't want to create false hopes.
Speaker 2: Data will be coming end of this year. So let's
Speaker 2: let's just have a look at the data and uh
Speaker 2: and decide on the level of excitement when we see that.
Speaker 2: But for sure they really need and also space where
Speaker 2: I think the medicines already there are not you know,
Speaker 2: maybe clear court stand up for care ob chances and
Speaker 2: we could potentially be that