NOVO NORDISK’S WEIGHT-LOSS WONDER DRUGS COULD ALSO HELP WITH DEMENTIA, LIVER DISEASE, AND MORE
Novo Nordisk is No. 2 on the list of the World’s 50 Most Innovative Companies of 2024. Explore the full list of companies that are reshaping industries and culture.
As its hit weight-loss and diabetes medications, Wegovy and Ozempic, take over the world, Danish pharmaceutical maker Novo Nordisk has broken into the ranks of the most valuable companies, with a market cap hovering at over $500 billion. Just about everyone knows someone who is taking one of these semaglutide-based drugs—or who wants to take them. Powered by booming sales of Wegovy, (Food and Drug Administration approved for weight management in adults with obesity or overweight with related medical problems), and Ozempic, (indicated for type 2 diabetes but often prescribed off-label for weight loss), the 100-year-old drugmaker hit $33.7 billion in 2023 sales, up 36% year-over-year.
But semaglutide is more than just a windfall for the Novo Nordisk. It’s also helping the drugmaker unlock new therapeutic possibilities. Based on a quarter century of internal R&D, Novo’s semaglutide drugs mimic a natural hormone that binds to so-called GLP-1 receptors in the pancreas and the brain to stimulate insulation secretion and regulate appetite. People taking the drug drop an average 15% of their body weight over 17 months.
Novo Nordisk CEO Lars Fruergaard Jørgensen has kept pushing to show what else these drugs can do. Data from a five-year-long study of more than 17,000 people without a previous history of diabetes, released late last year, revealed that Wegovy reduced the incidence of heart attack, stroke, or death from heart disease by 20%, compared to a placebo. Based on the data, the company recently received FDA approval for cardiovascular conditions. Meanwhile, a trial of semaglutide in people with chronic kidney disease and diabetes was halted early because it showed clear evidence of efficacy. Other studies are investigating the drug in sleep apnea, osteoarthritis, Alzheimer’s, metabolic dysfunction-associated steatohepatitis (MASH)—a form of fatty liver disease), and alcohol use disorder.
“The link between obesity and diabetes, cardiovascular disease, hypertension, and all of these cardiometabolic diseases is being understood now,” says Jørgensen. He has cranked up R&D—pouring roughly $4.7 billion into research in 2023, up 37% from 2022—to develop new drugs and to explore new dosages and delivery methods for semaglutide. The company scored a label expansion last year for its oral semaglutide, Rybelsus, as a first-line treatment for type 2 diabetes, and is working on new formulations, such as an injectable that combines semaglutide with a novel synthetic hormone called cagrilintide to create a stronger effect on blood sugar regulation and weight loss. The company has launched a Phase III trial of a combination drug called CagriSema, pitting it against Eli Lilly’s Zepbound. And it recently shared results of a Phase I trial of an experimental drug called amycretin that could help users lose 13.1% of body weight in 12 weeks—more than twice the weight loss experienced with Wegovy in the same amount of time.
Jørgensen hopes these efforts will yield more “golden eggs to drive the continued success of the company.”
Semaglutide research, from head to toe.
1. Sleep Apnea Patients with obstructive sleep apnea— a condition which is linked to obesity— have found relief while taking Ozempic and Wegovy.
2. Brain Disease Researchers hope the GLP- 1’s ability to tamp down inflammation, including in the brain, could slow dementia and Alzheimer’s.
3. Alcohol Use Disorder A University of Oklahoma study looking at semaglutide as a treatment for alcohol use disorder is enrolling patients.
4. Heart Disease In March 2024, the FDA expanded its approval of Wegovy to include treating obese and overweight patients with cardiovascular disease, after a yearslong trial showed a significant reduction in the risk heart attack, stroke, and death compared to a placebo.
5. Joint Diseases Studies have shown that taking GLP-1s can improve knee osteoarthritis symptoms, which are tied to weight, and could even slow joint structural changes.
6. Kidney Problems Wegovy cut the progression of chronic kidney disease and renal death by 22%, according to a yearslong study.
7. Liver Disease Early clinical trials suggest that GLP-1 medication could reduce liver damage from MASH, a form of fatty liver disease.
Explore the full 2024 list of Fast Company’s Most Innovative Companies, 606 organizations that are reshaping industries and culture. We’ve selected the firms making the biggest impact across 58 categories, including advertising, artificial intelligence, design, sustainability, and more.
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