- Ozempic-maker Novo Nordisk is Europe’s second-largest company by market capitalization.
- It’s also boosting Denmark’s economy all on its own.
- Denmark’s GDP grew 1.7% in 1H 2023. It would’ve contracted by 0.3% if not for the pharma sector.
The blockbuster drug Ozempic is such a hit that it’s helped its maker, Novo Nordisk, become one of the highest-profile companies in Europe.
Novo Nordisk’s share price was up over 40% this year as of Friday’s close, taking its market capitalization to 2.6 trillion Danish kroner, or $379 billion. In comparison, the market cap of LVMH Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton — Europe’s most valuable company now — was roughly $400 billion.
Novo Nordisk’s stunning stock rise this year has come on the back of the drugs Ozempic and Wegovy. The two products have been big hits in the US for their treatment of obesity; the Food and Drug Administration approved Wegovy’s use for that purpose in 2021, and the diabetes drug Ozempic contains the same active ingredient, semaglutide. Elon Musk and Amy Schumer are among those who’ve said they’ve used the products.
The drugs boosted Novo Nordisk’s earnings in the first half of 2023. The company posted 107.7 billion Danish kroner in revenue for the period — about 30% higher than the same period a year ago.
Not only that, Novo Nordisk has also been propping up Denmark’s economy all on its own.
Denmark's GDP grew by 1.7% in the first half of 2023 from a year ago, according to official statistics — all thanks to the pharmaceutical sector. The economy would've contracted by 0.3% if it weren't for the pharma industry, the country's statistics department said on August 31.
"If it wasn't for Novo Nordisk, there wouldn't have been any growth in the first six months of the year, Las Olsen, the chief economist at Danske Bank, told AFP on September 6.
Jonas Petersen, an analyst at Denmark's statistics department, further told the AFP that the trend is "changing the picture of the economy."
Novo Nordisk is also increasing hiring and has been bringing in billions of US dollars from its drug exports to the US.
Denmark's statistics department and Danske Bank's Olsen did not immediately respond to requests from Insider for comment sent outside regular business hours.