Novo Nordisk Media

Novo Nordisk's operating profit decreased by 4% in Danish kroner and increased by 3% in local currencies in 2018

1 February - “Lars Fruergaard Jørgensen, president and CEO: “2018 was a year of change and significant progress for Novo Nordisk. We delivered on our targets for sales and operating profit and have successfully launched Ozempic^®, our new once-weekly GLP-1 for people with type 2 diabetes, in several countries. The results from the broad PIONEER phase 3a programme for oral semaglutide are very encouraging for people with type 2 diabetes, and we are now close to submitting oral semaglutide for FDA approval.”

Operating profit increased by 6% measured in local currencies when adjusted for the cost of severance and the priority review voucher for oral semaglutide

Sales remained broadly unchanged in Danish kroner and increased by 5% in local currencies to DKK 111.8 billion.

• Sales of Victoza^® increased by 5% to DKK 24.3 billion (9% in local currencies).
• Sales of Ozempic^® were DKK 1,796 million and total GLP-1 sales increased by 13% (18% in local currencies).
• Sales of Saxenda^® increased by 51% to DKK 3.9 billion (60% in local currencies).
• Sales of Tresiba^® increased by 10% to DKK 8.0 billion (15% in local currencies).
• Sales in International Operations increased by 2% (7% in local currencies).
• Sales in North America Operations decreased by 2% (increased 3% in local currencies).
• Sales within diabetes and obesity increased by 1% to DKK 93.9 billion (6% in local currencies) and sales within biopharmaceuticals decreased by 5% to DKK 17.9 billion (1% in local currencies).

Download the full-year results for 2018

Oral semaglutide demonstrates a favourable cardiovascular safety profile and a significant reduction in cardiovascular death and all-cause mortality in people with type 2 diabetes in the PIONEER 6 trial

23 November - Novo Nordisk has announced the headline results from the last global phase 3a trial, PIONEER 6.

“We are very encouraged that PIONEER 6 demonstrated cardiovascular safety as well as a significant reduction in both CV and all-cause mortality following oral semaglutide treatment in people with type 2 diabetes at high cardiovascular risk. Based on the strong clinical data reported throughout the PIONEER clinical trial programme, we have now established a solid efficacy and safety profile for oral semaglutide and we are looking forward to sharing the results with regulatory authorities during 2019,” said Mads Krogsgaard Thomsen, executive vice president and chief science officer of Novo Nordisk.

Read all the details about PIONEER 6 and the other completed PIONEER trials: PIONEER 1 - PIONEER 2 - PIONEER 3 - PIONEER 4 + 7 - PIONEER 5 - PIONEER 6 - PIONEER 9

Towards a cure

Twenty years after Jacob Sten Petersen embarked upon a career in diabetes research, his own daughter Vita was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes. Here he reflects on his very personal motivation to achieve a cure for type 1 diabetes and on the progress of Novo Nordisk’s stem cell research. 

Watch the video with Jacob and Vita and read the full story

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Red Cross and Novo Nordisk in ground-breaking partnership to tackle chronic care in humanitarian crises

Many more people are today affected by chronic non-communicable diseases (NCDs) than by communicable diseases. This is not reflected in resources for health in general and much less in humanitarian crises.   

The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), the Danish Red Cross (DRC) and Novo Nordisk have partnered to tackle the growing issue of chronic diseases that affect millions of people living in humanitarian crises around the world. Focus will be on ensuring efficient supply of low-cost human insulin in vials to Red Cross globally; support for ICRC’s and DRC’s health programmes; 2-3 projects to provide care to people with hypertension and diabetes in humanitarian crises to be conducted within three years.

Read CEO Lars Fruergaard's reflections and more about the partnership