COPENHAGEN (Reuters) – Danish drugmaker Novo Nordisk said on Thursday it would continue to limit supplies of its appetite suppressant Wegovy in the United States, as the company struggles to meet growing demand for it. produced in the country.

On the stock market, the title of Novo Nordisk lost a little more than 1.25% at 08:35 GMT.

In May, Novo Nordisk had halved sales to new patients of Wegovy, a weekly injection that allows an average weight loss of 15% when accompanied by a change in diet and physical activity.

The aim was to preserve access to treatment for people who are already receiving it.

“We found that the initiative we took at the beginning of the year, limiting the starting dose, actually helped to manage this dynamic, so we want to expand this initiative in the coming quarters,” said Group Chief Executive Lars Fruergaard Jorgensen on a call with reporters.

Novo Nordisk denied a report from Reuters which indicated that several American patients already receiving the injection were experiencing delays in obtaining their prescriptions.

The group has also again raised its forecasts for profit and turnover for the whole of the year.

Novo Nordisk now expects 2023 local currency operating profit growth of 31-37%, down from 28-34% previously, and sales growth of 27-33%, from 24-30 % previously.

According to Jyske Bank analyst Henrik Hallengreen Laustsen, second-quarter sales and profit were slightly below expectations, while costs were also higher than expected.

“Fortunately, the Wegovy and Ozempic core products have exceeded expectations, but there are some disappointments here and there in the Insulin and Rare Diseases division,” he says.

(Report Nikolaj Skydsgaard; Victor Goury-Laffont, edited by Kate Entringer)

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