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