Focused from the very beginning
In 2023, Novo Nordisk will have its 100-year anniversary. From the very beginning in 1923, the then-called Nordisk Insulinlaboratorium focused on the treatment of diabetes and the production of insulin. In late 2022, Novo Nordisk was ranked among the top 10 global pharma and biotech companies based on market capitalization. It is also the world’s largest company for diabetes treatments. Almost four fifths of its around 25-billion-dollar global sales are generated through the company’s diabetes care business. Important competitors in this market are big names like Eli Lilly, GlaxoSmithKline, Boehringer Ingelheim, and Sanofi.Key products as driver
Most of the company’s diabetes revenues are generated through three product groups. The largest single share is made up of products based on glucagon-like peptide 1 (also known as GLP-1). Novo Nordisk’s top drug Ozempic, for example, is a GLP-1 receptor agonist which increases insulin secretion. Ozempic generated around 8.6 billion U.S. dollars of revenue in 2022. The other two product groups are long-acting and fast-acting insulins. Among the better known fast-acting insulins is NovoRapid/NovoLog, with around 2.2 billion U.S. dollars in global sales.A disease on the rise
Forecasts for Novo Nordisk show a significant growth, but that is also true due to the worldwide spread and rise of diabetes. Diabetes is one of the most common diseases worldwide, causing millions of deaths every year. It is expected that the number of people with diabetes worldwide will increase from 463 million to about 700 million by 2045. Thus, the prevalence of diabetes among adults is estimated to increase from 9.3 percent to almost 11 percent. Total global costs to stem diabetes and its impact are estimated at around 760 billion U.S. dollars. With nearly 120 million diabetics, China is the country with highest number worldwide. Accordingly, performance on the Chinese market is – and will be – crucial for Novo Nordisk.
