and Wegovy, that might be able to help you slim down. But for Denmark as a whole, the reverse is true: these miracle medicines are actually fattening up an otherwise shrinking economy.
The 100-year-old company has notched up a 42 per cent share price increase since the start of this year, mostly of which came in a wild few days in early August after Wegovy was shown to help prevent cardiac problems as well. Sales are up 29 per cent, operating profit is up 32 per cent. Economy Minister Jakob Ellemann-Jensen described the situation as “a bit bizarre”. “Things wouldn’t be looking quite as good [for the economy] if you removed Novo Nordisk from the equation. But luckily, it is part of the equation,” he told reporters recently.
As is often the case when the wind is in the sails, the ride feels like it could go on and on. Obesity is a massive problem in the developed world, and a growing one in the developing world.On some estimates, the number of overweight or obese people in the world could quadruple to 4 billion within the next dozen years. Morgan Stanley has estimated that 7 per cent of the US population alone could be taking weight-loss drugs by 2035.
But the venerable trans-Atlantic pair won’t only be eyeing off each other. An obesity drug tracker from healthcare analysts STAT has counted almost 70 obesity treatments in development, of which two-thirds use the same mechanism as Wegovy and Mounjaro.