Slimming cure for Danish giant Novo Nordisk, manufacturer of Ozempic

After a successful few years thanks to the success of its Ozempic antidiabetic treatment, which was popular on social media for weight loss and was particularly profitable, the Danish pharmaceutical company Novo Nordisk announced on Wednesday that it was cutting 9,000 jobs worldwide. That's more than 11% of its employees.

"The reduction in staff is planned across the company […] and is expected to achieve total annual savings of around 8 billion crowns (1.07 billion euros) by the end of 2026," the group wrote in a statement.

On the Copenhagen Stock Exchange, the stock, which has been struggling for a year due to increased competition in the United States, its main market, reacted positively to the announcement. It rose 2.67% shortly after 11:15 a.m. (9:15 a.m. GMT) in a very slight increase in the market.

Around 5,000 jobs are expected to be cut in Denmark, the group, which operates in 80 countries, said. This is a "significant" job loss, according to Nykredit Bank's chief economist Palle Sorensen, who pointed out that "the Danish economy created 2,300 new jobs in June, which is equivalent to around two months of job growth."

For the third time since the beginning of the year, the century-old laboratory is also revising downwards its forecasts for 2025, with an operating margin now between 4% and 10%, compared to 10% and 16% previously announced. These very comfortable margins have allowed Novo Nordisk to hire at full speed in recent years: from some 43,700 employees in 2020 to 78,400 today.

"Our markets are evolving, especially in the obesity area , as they have become more competitive and consumer-focused, and our business must evolve as well," said new CEO Mike Doustdar in the statement, whose strategy can no longer rely solely on Ozempic's spectacular sales.

This antidiabetic drug is an analogue of GLP-1 (short for glugaco-like peptide 1), a hormone secreted by the intestines that stimulates insulin secretion and curbs appetite by providing a feeling of satiety.

Its competitor, Wegovy, which targets obesity, uses the same hormone. Available in 35 countries, its sales increased by 78% in the first half of 2025, while Ozempic's sales increased by only 15%.

The dominance of the Danish company, one of the largest European capitalizations, is undermined by the good results of its competitor Eli Lilly and personalized pharmaceutical preparations in pharmacies in the United States, authorized for a time to compensate for stock shortages.

This authorization ended on May 22, but sales of these preparations continue "under the false guise of customization," lamented Novo Nordisk, which is working hard to increase its production capacity.

A global health scourge, obesity is a chronic disease that is a risk factor for cardiovascular disease, diabetes, certain cancers and complications such as Covid-19.

UNICEF warned Tuesday of the surge in obesity among children and adolescents . This year, it became the leading form of malnutrition among 5- to 19-year-olds worldwide, ahead of undernutrition. If prevention and medical care do not improve, the World Obesity Federation predicts that by 2035, half (51%) of the world's population will be overweight or obese.

In an attempt to prevent this worrying scenario, the World Health Organization (WHO) has just added anti-GLP-1 drugs – Ozempic, Wegovy, Mounjaro, etc. – to the list of medicines deemed essential, calling for the provision of cheaper generic versions for populations in developing countries.