What will Novo’s VC do with its influx of cash? Don’t expect obesity investments

The Danish pharmaceutical company Novo Nordisk has shepherded all kinds of medical innovation in the 110 years since it was founded. But the booming success of its diabetes and obesity drug is unlike anything executives have seen before.

The company’s mid-year operating profit jumped from 37.5 billion Danish kroner in 2022 to 48.9 billion Danish kroner this year — “probably the strongest growth in the history of the company,” Chief Financial Officer Karsten Munk Knudsen said during an August earnings call. The 30% growth rate came from sales of semaglutide, which Novo Nordisk sells for diabetes under the name Ozempic and for obesity as Wegovy.

With its new blockbuster drug in hand, Novo Nordisk is valued higher than the entire economy of Denmark, where it’s based.

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