Do we like them?

Do we like Novo Nordisk?

Danish drugmaker behind Ozempic, Wegovy and insulins, based in Bagsværd, Denmark

Our score: 6 out of 10. Makes drugs people really need and is now cutting US prices, but it has cut 13,000 jobs, faces injury lawsuits, and a foundation tightly controls it. We'd back it, with caveats.

Novo Nordisk is a Danish insulin maker that grew into the world's biggest name in weight-loss drugs with Ozempic and Wegovy. A charitable foundation controls it. Through Novo Holdings, the Novo Nordisk Foundation owns 28% of the shares but 77% of the votes.

Things got dramatic in 2025. Reuters-reported slowing Wegovy sales and a sliding share price led to long-time CEO Lars Fruergaard Jørgensen being ousted. Insider Mike Doustdar replaced him, and he promptly announced 9,000 job cuts.

Then the board blew up. Novo said chair Helge Lund and six independent members would leave after a dispute with the foundation over the pace of change. The foundation's own chair, Lars Rebien Sørensen, a former Novo CEO, took over.

Job cuts have since passed the original plan. At a Capital Markets Day, Doustdar said a further 4,000 had left, taking the total to 13,000. Fierce Pharma says the workforce is now around 66,000, down about 14% from two years ago.

On the good side, under pressure from the Trump administration, Novo agreed to lower Wegovy prices. It also plans to cut US list prices by up to 50% from January 2027. Against that, it faces injury claims, which are unproven. We'd back it, cautiously, at 6.