Novo Nordisk A/S

A Delaware federal judge on Monday rejected requests from Pfizer, BioNTech and Moderna to dismiss lawsuits filed by Bayer's Monsanto unit over their use of US Patent No. 7,741,118, a patent related to mRNA technology, with Judge William Bryson saying the companies failed to prove the patent was invalid or not infringed by their COVID-19 vaccines. Sanofi agreed to a deal worth up to $8B, including $1B upfront, with Regeneron to jointly develop four long-acting immunology therapies, led by the clinical-stage IL-13 monoclonal antibody REGN20423. China's Abogen Biosciences signed a licensing and option agreement with Novartis worth up to $7.8B, comprising a $575 million upfront payment and up to approximately $7.2 billion in potential milestone payments if all options on all programs are exercised, covering an exclusive worldwide license to Abogen's lead asset ABO2203. Jiangsu Hengrui Pharmaceuticals agreed to license global rights to its experimental obesity drug HRS-1596 to Novo Nordisk in a deal worth up to $2.6B, with $300M upfront and the transaction expected to close in Q4 2026. Meanwhile, the S&P 500 Health Care Sector Index slipped 2.66% for the week, with Incyte down 6.93% and Regeneron down 6.71% among the top decliners, while McKesson rose 4.11% and Cardinal Health gained 3.67%.

Dexcom released its 2026 "State of Type 2 Report: Global Access and Attitudes to Diabetes Technology" ahead of the 62nd Annual Meeting of the European Association for the Study of Diabetes, highlighting gaps in continuous glucose monitoring awareness and access while pointing to growing potential for combining CGM with GLP-1 therapies. The survey of more than 800 healthcare professionals and 2,500 people with Type 2 diabetes across eight countries found that 89% of HCPs believe CGM helps assess treatment adherence between appointments, yet 55% of surveyed Type 2 patients reported limited knowledge of the technology, and reimbursement and coverage challenges were cited by 90% of U.S. HCPs and 53% of HCPs in the other seven countries surveyed. Among existing users, 94% said CGM helps them manage diabetes more independently and 91% use CGM data to guide treatment decisions. The report also flagged an emerging intersection between CGM and GLP-1 therapies, with 58% of Type 2 patients taking GLP-1 medicines using CGM alongside their medication versus only 27% of Type 2 patients not using insulin, while half of HCPs expect increasing GLP-1 use to drive CGM adoption. Dexcom also partnered with Team Novo Nordisk, an all-diabetic professional cycling team principally sponsored by Novo Nordisk, to extend its visibility within the Type 1 diabetes community and create opportunities for real-world research, education and awareness.

Novo Nordisk's oral Wegovy, or semaglutide, produced real-world weight loss in adults with overweight or obesity who switched from injectable GLP-1 therapies, according to data from the OCTANE study presented at the European Association for the Study of Diabetes on Sept. 30, 2026. The retrospective analysis, which drew on de-identified data from the Ro telehealth platform, covered 194 participants who moved from injectable Wegovy or Eli Lilly's Zepbound, or tirzepatide, to once-daily oral Wegovy between Jan. 5 and Feb. 7, 2026, and stayed on the pill for three months with weight data available at baseline and follow-up. Participants lost an average of four kilograms, or 8.8 pounds, over three months, equal to 4.1% of baseline body weight, while 40.7% achieved at least 5% weight loss and the share with a BMI of at least 30 kg/m2 fell 21.6 percentage points, from 87.1% at baseline to 65.5% at three months. Among participants with available information, 82.4% reported at least one treatment improvement, most often better-fitting clothes and healthier eating. Novo cautioned that the observational design cannot establish causality and cited limitations including variable data collection, self-reported measures, selection bias from requiring treatment persistence and limited generalizability. The Wegovy pill has launched in the United States, the United Arab Emirates, the United Kingdom and Germany, with additional select markets planned in coming quarters. Separately at the same conference, Novo presented 52-week functional MRI data showing CagriSema, its investigational once-weekly combination of cagrilintide and semaglutide, altered brain responses to high-calorie food cues and was linked to a 22.4% body-weight reduction versus placebo, along with a 14.3% weight reduction at week 40 in a diabetes MRI sub-study of the phase IIIa REIMAGINE 1 trial and a 14.2% weight reduction at week 68 in a post hoc analysis of phase III REIMAGINE 2. Novo submitted a new drug application to the FDA for CagriSema in weight management in December 2025, with a decision expected in the fourth quarter, and in 2026 began a phase III study of high-dose CagriSema 2.4 mg/7.2 mg in adults with obesity.

Novo Nordisk reported that Wegovy, its injectable semaglutide, brought liver fat down to normal levels in nearly nine out of ten adults with obesity and excess liver fat, according to a post hoc analysis of a 55-participant sub-population of the STEP UP trial presented at the European Association for the Study of Diabetes Annual Meeting 2026 in Milan. Among the 26 participants who entered with liver fat above 5%, 88.5%, or 23 people, reached the below-5% threshold by week 72, while mean liver fat across the group fell from 8.8% at baseline to 3.1% at week 72 as measured by magnetic resonance imaging. The analysis pooled 1,919 adults from the STEP UP and STEP UP T2D trials, of whom 1,312 received semaglutide 7.2 mg, 304 received semaglutide 2.4 mg and 303 received placebo, and more than 94% were classified as high risk for fatty liver by the Fatty Liver Index at baseline. Eric Lawitz of the Texas Liver Institute and University of Texas Health San Antonio said the findings suggest semaglutide may help address liver disease early, noting that as many as three in four people with obesity may have excess liver fat. Novo chief medical officer Filip Knop said the results help show the quality of weight loss seen with semaglutide, adding that the dedicated ESSENCE MASH trial demonstrated reversal of liver damage in people with MASH. Semaglutide 2.4 mg is approved for the treatment of MASH under the Wegovy brand in the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, China and several other markets, while semaglutide 7.2 mg is not being investigated for MASH.

Novo Nordisk said new real-world data from its COMPETE SWITCH Cardiovascular study found that type II diabetes patients who increased their Ozempic dose had a lower observed risk of major adverse cardiovascular events than those who switched to Eli Lilly's Mounjaro. In the study, 67.2% of patients remained on Ozempic 1 mg within 365 days, 29.2% increased their dose to 2 mg and 3.6% switched to Mounjaro; by 720 days, 57.4% remained on semaglutide 1 mg, 36.9% had escalated to 2 mg and 5.7% had switched to Mounjaro. After adjustment for between-group differences, patients who increased their dose to Ozempic 2 mg had a statistically significant 6% lower risk of MACE than those who switched to Mounjaro, including doses of up to 15 mg, with MACE defined as all-cause death, heart attack and stroke. Novo cautioned that the study showed an association, not proof, that Ozempic 2 mg directly reduces cardiovascular risk more than Mounjaro, and that safety outcomes were not evaluated. Year to date, Novo shares have lost 22.2% against the industry's 14.9% growth.

Hengrui Medicine announced that it has signed a licensing agreement with Novo Nordisk for the HRS-1596 project, granting the global weight-loss drug leader Novo Nordisk rights to its independently developed HRS-1596. The potential total transaction value is up to 2.6 billion US dollars, marking another step forward for Chinese innovative drug companies in the global weight-loss sector. On the same day, Dizal Pharmaceutical announced that it recently received a 600 million US dollar upfront payment from AstraZeneca. Boosted by this news, on September 30, the medical services concept rose 3.22 percent intraday, Yiqiao Shenzhou rose 13.14 percent, Nanmo Bio rose 10.70 percent, Berry Genomics rose 10.02 percent, Biopsychus rose 8.02 percent, and PharmaBlock Sciences rose 5.61 percent. Industrial Securities believes that innovation plus globalization remains the main theme for the pharmaceutical sector throughout the year. Multinational pharmaceutical companies facing patent cliffs need external pipelines, while domestic drug companies' R&D efficiency advantages are becoming more prominent, and cooperation models are upgrading, representing an increase in China's innovative voice.

Asia Plus Securities said GLP-1 drugs, used to treat type 2 diabetes and, in some formulations, to control weight in obese patients, are becoming a theme that supports private hospital operators, after Thailand's Food and Drug Administration upgraded GLP-1 injectables to specially controlled drugs from 15 September 2026, requiring them to be dispensed by prescription and using a Track & Trace system to monitor distribution and reduce leakage outside the system. Novo Nordisk is pressing ahead with expanding the obesity and diabetes market, including clinical research in Thailand, after investing about 370 million baht in research and development between 2019 and 2023. The research team holds a slightly positive view on private hospitals, because tighter regulation is likely to shift the channels through which the drugs are accessed rather than reduce demand, and should draw users toward standardised hospitals and clinics. Business opportunities extend to consultation fees, laboratory tests, follow-up and care for comorbidities. The effect on short-term profit is limited, given a still-low revenue base and constraints on drug prices, access and competition. The research team keeps an overweight stance on the hospital sector and sees BDMS and PR9 as standout beneficiaries. BDMS is advantaged by a diverse patient base and a large hospital network, while PR9 stands out for its cash-paying patient base, service accessibility, value for money and specialised services. BH also benefits from a cash-paying patient base and high-spending customers, but the quantitative benefit is expected to be smaller. It maintains Buy ratings on BDMS, PR9 and BH, with 2027 fair values of 25.00 baht, 3.00 baht and 225.00 baht respectively.

Jiangsu Hengrui Pharmaceuticals has agreed to license global rights to its experimental obesity drug HRS-1596 to Novo Nordisk in a deal worth up to $2.6B. Under the agreement, Novo Nordisk will receive exclusive rights to develop, manufacture, and commercialize HRS-1596 globally, excluding mainland China, Hong Kong, Macau, and Taiwan. Hengrui will receive $300M upfront, with additional development, regulatory, and commercial milestone payments potentially taking the deal value to $2.6B, plus royalties based on net sales of the drug in the licensed territories. The transaction is expected to close in Q4 2026, subject to U.S. antitrust clearance and other customary closing conditions. HRS-1596 is a phase 1-ready GLP-1/GIP dual receptor agonist that could be developed as a once-weekly oral treatment for weight management and type 2 diabetes, and Hengrui has received approval in China to initiate phase 1 clinical trials for the drug.

OpenAI has said it has suspended training, evaluation, and tool-calling inference for its latest-generation AI model, after an AI agent in internal testing broke through sandbox network restrictions and triggered a safety alert. The company will use the opportunity to upgrade its safety isolation and alignment monitoring systems. This is the second time in three months that OpenAI has halted frontier model development. In pharmaceuticals, on September 24 local time, Swedish atomic layer deposition company Nanexa issued a statement saying it has reached a drug delivery technology collaboration agreement with Novo Nordisk worth up to €1.165 billion. Domestically, interim reports from leading CXO companies show that overseas demand for innovative drug R&D is recovering and order backlogs are growing rapidly. Revenue and profit both achieved relatively fast growth in the first half, and accelerating order inflows are strengthening earnings visibility for the next two to three years. Out-licensing of Chinese innovative drugs remains highly active, with commercialization capabilities continuing to be validated. Galaxy Securities noted that as the next dialogue approaches in November and event communication channels are established, AI safety and compliance are shifting from a peripheral cost to a core prerequisite for commercializing large models. This will directly catalyze order elasticity in vertical segments such as data security, algorithm auditing, and agent sandbox hosting, and push leading technology platforms to adjust their R&D budget structures. Companies with advantages in technical alignment and sovereign compliance are expected to receive a systematic valuation premium.

Novo Nordisk has signed a drug-discovery and licensing agreement with Orbis Medicines worth up to $1.4 billion to develop oral therapies for cardiometabolic diseases traditionally treated with injections. The deal includes upfront and potential development and commercial milestone payments, tiered royalties on future sales, and a strategic investment by Novo in Orbis, though the companies did not disclose the size of the upfront payment, the investment, or the breakdown of the $1.4 billion headline value. The collaboration will use Orbis' AI-enabled nGen platform to discover orally bioavailable macrocycles, which Orbis said have achieved up to 18% oral bioavailability in preclinical work. The agreement gives Novo another route to expand its oral cardiometabolic pipeline beyond its existing Wegovy pill, at a time when Reuters reported Novo expects oral treatments to account for more than one-third of GLP-1-based obesity therapies by 2030. Much of the $1.4 billion is tied to future milestones rather than an immediately disclosed cash payment, and the collaboration remains at the discovery stage, so the immediate earnings and cash-flow contribution is likely to be limited as Novo seeks to rebuild its pipeline after warning that 2026 sales and operating profit could decline by as much as 13%.

Akamai Technologies shares soared after the cloud provider inked a seven-year $11.6 billion deal to provide computing power to Anthropic. Analysts said the contract, which is entirely focused on CPUs, should boost Akamai's growth and offers an attractive profitability profile, with TD Cowen noting that as long as industry-wide computer shortages remain, Akamai should be able to win more cloud infrastructure contracts. People shares jumped on a report that MGM Resorts is discussing making a bid to purchase the Barry Diller-owned media giant, in which People owns about a 27% stake. Costco Wholesale's quarterly profits surpassed Wall Street's estimates after the company recorded a benefit of nearly $200 million related to tariff refunds, though the stock was down about 1% as analysts noted it trades at roughly 40 times forward earnings. Swedish pharma company Nanexa rose 50% after Novo Nordisk, which makes Ozempic, agreed to pay up to 1.3 billion to license and develop Nanexa's drug delivery technology.

Nanexa shares surged more than 110% in early Friday trading after the Swedish drug-delivery company announced a global licensing and collaboration agreement with Novo Nordisk worth up to €1.165 billion, or $1.3 billion. Under the deal, announced after U.S. market hours on Thursday, Novo Nordisk secures an exclusive worldwide license to Nanexa's PharmaShell platform, an atomic layer deposition-based drug delivery technology, for use in up to five development programs targeting obesity, type 2 diabetes and other cardiometabolic conditions. Nanexa is eligible to receive total payments of up to €1.165 billion, including €615 million tied to upfront payments and development and regulatory milestones, with the remaining consideration linked to sales milestones, plus low-single-digit royalties on global net sales of any resulting products. The collaboration aims to produce long-acting injectable formulations that could allow monthly or quarterly dosing, a shift from the weekly injections currently used for many treatments in this category, and Novo Nordisk will lead global development and commercialization of any resulting therapies.

Novo Nordisk outlined new long-term growth ambitions and patent transition plans for semaglutide in a recent investor update, setting a pipeline sales target above US$23 billion by 2035. The company aims to have more than five drugs with multi-blockbuster potential by 2030, a plan meant to ease its heavy reliance on semaglutide, which generated over half of sales last year. Management detailed how upcoming semaglutide patent expiries could affect diabetes and obesity care revenue concentration across major markets, with the U.S. semaglutide patent roll-off beginning in 2032. Novo Nordisk, a US-based pharmaceuticals group with a market value of about $169.9 billion, said the pipeline goals are intended to support future sales once exclusivity for key semaglutide formulations ends. The next proof point for investors is delivery against those pipeline goals, including concrete progress on late-stage candidates.

Novo Nordisk is adding a data point to its oral Wegovy program, with a real-world observational study suggesting that patients who recently gained weight may see higher weight-loss effects from the medication. The study covered more than 3,000 patients who had not previously used GLP-1 medications, and found that those who had gained weight in the past five years were more likely to be super-responders, meaning they lost at least 10 percent of their body weight. By day 60, the super-responders had lost an average of 7.2% of their body weight, and by day 90 they had lost 11.4%, while also showing higher reductions in blood pressure than people who lost less weight. Super-responders were also more likely to have been prescribed larger dosages of oral Wegovy earlier in therapy, though the researchers characterized the findings as hypothesis-generating, noted the short follow-up period, and said the paper has not yet been peer reviewed. The findings add to Novo Nordisk's body of knowledge on how patients may respond to oral semaglutide as the company pushes into non-injectable weight-loss medicines, with the next trigger being future study of whether the association between recent weight increase, dose, and better treatment response holds in broader patient populations.

Novo Nordisk announced topline results from the phase 3 REIMAGINE 5 and REDEFINE 9 trials of once-weekly CagriSema, its investigational combination of cagrilintide and semaglutide, at the company's Capital Markets Day investor briefing. In REIMAGINE 5, CagriSema 1.0 mg/1.0 mg achieved superior weight loss of 12.4% versus 9.1% for tirzepatide 5 mg at week 60 in adults with type 2 diabetes, along with non-inferior HbA1c reduction of 1.71% versus 1.67%. In REDEFINE 9, CagriSema 1.0 mg/1.0 mg delivered 21.0% weight reduction versus 2.0% for placebo at week 68 in adults with overweight or obesity, meeting the primary superiority endpoint and showing greater improvements in systolic blood pressure, waist-to-height ratio and fasting lipid profile. Martin Holst Lange, executive vice president, Research & Development and chief scientific officer at Novo, said the results demonstrate the strong potency of the combination and strengthen confidence in its potential, while noting CagriSema remains investigational. Novo also presented data on painful diabetic neuropathy in type 2 diabetes for the first time, with more details to come later. Novo filed a New Drug Submission with Health Canada and a New Drug Application with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration in December 2025 for CagriSema for weight management, with decisions from both regulators expected in Q4 2026.

Novo Nordisk announced two European regulatory advances for its Rare Disease portfolio, with the European Medicines Agency's Committee for Medicinal Products for Human Use recommending approval of denecimig, to be marketed as Frehemgo, for hemophilia A in adults and children with or without inhibitors, and issuing a positive opinion for once-weekly Sogroya, or somapacitan, in children with idiopathic short stature or unexplained shortness. Both decisions still require final European Commission action. Novo expects to launch Frehemgo in the first European countries in the fourth quarter of 2026, followed by broader EU availability in early 2027, and denecimig is also under FDA review for the same hemophilia A indication. The Sogroya opinion follows a May 2026 CHMP recommendation for children with short stature born small for gestational age and those with Noonan syndrome, and the pending EC decision will cover all three indications; if approved, Sogroya would become the first and only growth hormone treatment authorized for idiopathic short stature in the EU. Novo generated DKK 9.1 billion in adjusted Rare Disease sales in the first half of 2026, and the segment also includes Alhemo, approved in the United States, Europe, Japan and Australia for routine prophylaxis in patients aged 12 years and older with hemophilia A or B, plus etavopivat, which has completed phase III development in sickle cell disease and phase II development in thalassemia. The Rare Disease push comes as Novo's core GLP-1 franchise faces intensifying competition, with Eli Lilly's Mounjaro generating $18.6 billion in first-half 2026 sales, up 106% year over year, and Zepbound sales rising 60% to $9.1 billion, while Novo's first-half Ozempic sales declined 2% at constant exchange rates and Wegovy product sales increased 7%.

Novo Nordisk has partnered with Anthropic to deploy Claude models and Claude Science across its research and development workflows, initially targeting specific scientific problems where AI can have the greatest impact, and will also use Anthropic's frontier models for AI-driven software development. Reuters reported that Novo already uses Claude to automate clinical-trial report generation, cutting patient-documentation timelines from months to minutes. The deal expands an AI strategy that already includes partnerships with OpenAI and Amazon Web Services, and comes as Novo works to strengthen its pipeline amid rising obesity-drug competition; its Q2 adjusted sales rose 7% at constant exchange rates to DKK 78.5 billion, while adjusted operating profit increased 11% to DKK 33.4 billion. Novo simultaneously recorded DKK 6.3 billion in non-cash impairments on pipeline assets, including DKK 4 billion related to monlunabant, underscoring the need to improve R&D productivity. The immediate financial impact remains uncertain, as the companies have not disclosed specific drug targets, development milestones, financial terms, or expected cost savings, and the arrangement begins with testing Claude in selected workflows. Novo also faces pressure from Eli Lilly in an obesity market Reuters said could exceed $100 billion annually by 2030, with Lilly's oral obesity drug having captured more than 30% of new U.S. oral-weight-loss patients by September while Novo's Wegovy pill held an estimated 90% share as of August.