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The drugmaker will release third quarter results on Wednesday, the first for Mike Doustdar who was tasked in August with turning around the Danish company's fortunes. Sign up here. ALL EYES ON NEW CEO Novo's earnings come just two weeks after controlling shareholder, the Novo Nordisk Foundation, seized control of the board, accusing its leadership of moving too slowly in the weight-loss drug race, especially in the U.S. The outgoing chair and all six independent directors will step down at an extraordinary shareholder meeting set for November 14, with ex-CEO and Foundation chairman Lars Rebien Sorensen in line to become board chairman. Paul Major, a healthcare-focused portfolio manager at Bellevue Asset Management, said attention would be on strategy and outlook. "What matters is what Doustdar signals about the future, and the tone in which it's delivered," he said, adding the CEO and incoming board appeared aligned on the challenge Novo faced in a turnaround plan that has seen 9,000 jobs cut. "I am curious... whether that speaks to a broader predilection on his part to do deals of similar either size or pace or kind," he said. FOCUS ON 2025 TARGETS, 2026 GROWTH Novo has cut its guidance three times so far this year and analysts said that the high end of its full-year outlook of 8%-14% sales growth looks challenging and could be lowered. BMO analyst Evan Seigerman said he was looking for comments on how Novo plans to get past its restructuring and revive growth in its obesity business. Jefferies analyst Michael Leuchten said Novo's outlook is constrained by its dependence on semaglutide, the active ingredient in its obesity and diabetes drugs which underpins about 60% of future revenues, given signs of market slowdown. "It looks like the obesity market in the U.S. is running out of steam, and we don't fully understand why," he said, with new patient starts and prescription volumes "underwhelming". Reporting by Maggie Fick and Bhanvi Satija; Editing by Adam Jourdan and Alexander Smith Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles., opens new tab Maggie is a Britain-based reporter covering the European pharmaceuticals industry with a global perspective. In 2023, Maggie's coverage of Danish drugmaker Novo Nordisk and its race to increase production of its new weight-loss drug helped the Health & Pharma team win a Reuters Journalists of the Year award in the Beat Coverage of the Year category. Since November 2023, she has also been participating in Reuters coverage related to the Israel-Hamas war. Previously based in Nairobi and Cairo for Reuters and in Lagos for the Financial Times, Maggie got her start in journalism in 2010 as a freelancer for The Associated Press in South Sudan. Bhanvi is a London-based reporter covering European pharmaceutical companies and the healthcare industry. She previously covered U.S. health and pharma firms, with a focus on the new weight loss drugs that are transforming the obesity treatment space. Her coverage includes a trend piece on the underuse of their weight-loss drugs among men, increased interest in therapies being developed for preservation of lean mass, and a scoop on gene therapy maker Sarepta defying an FDA order to stop shipping its muscular dystrophy treatment.
