Novo Nordisk Investors Call for M&A and New Drug Development
nashnova research
Multiple major shareholders are pressing Novo Nordisk to accelerate acquisitions and pipeline expansion, warning that reliance on semaglutide for over 90% of revenue is unsustainable — new CEO Mike Doustdar faces his first big test at the upcoming investor day.
What exactly are investors worried about?
More than 90% of Novo Nordisk's sales come from diabetes and obesity drugs, anchored by the semaglutide family — Ozempic and Wegovy.
This means → the company is essentially a one-drug giant; any surge in competition or patent expiry hits the revenue base directly.
Rival Eli Lilly spans oncology, neuroscience, and weight loss. Its Zepbound injectable has already overtaken Novo Nordisk in the U.S. obesity injection market.
In plain terms = investors aren't afraid the drug stops selling today — they're afraid the company has only one leg to stand on tomorrow.
What specifically are shareholders demanding?
Eugen Uretzki, analyst at top-15 shareholder Flossbach, said the CEO has "two jobs: develop assets and commercialize them" — and "asset development remains to be proven."
Julia Angeles, investment manager at shareholder Baillie Gifford, called on Novo to "articulate the transition away from Ozempic," including exploring experimental therapies through partnerships.
But she also stressed: "You can't do M&A without a clear strategy." This reflects a nuanced stance — major shareholders want a roadmap first, not blind deal-making.
Has the M&A window already closed?
Jefferies analyst Michael Leuchten said he was "somewhat surprised there has been no deal activity so far" and urged the company to add assets to its pipeline.
Yet he also noted that Novo "has not historically been great at business development" and questioned whether current management has the appetite.
A former long-term investor who recently exited was blunter: "A year ago you could have bought targets cheaply. Now biotech is expensive."
This means → even if the company decides to act now, acquisition costs are significantly higher than a year ago — the value window is closing.
Is the existing pipeline enough?
The new weight-loss therapy CagriSema was filed for approval last December and is expected to launch next year.
Oral Wegovy tablets hit weekly prescriptions of over 161,065 — more than triple Eli Lilly's comparable product. That is the brightest number in the current pipeline.
But a late-stage drug aimed at reducing heart-attack risk failed in clinical trials, denting pipeline confidence.
In plain terms = the pipeline isn't empty, but it's nowhere near enough to break the semaglutide dependency.
How close is the patent cliff?
Semaglutide patent protection in Europe and the U.S. expires in stages through the 2030s.
More urgently, India, Brazil, Canada, and Turkey have already lost patent protection this year — generic competition is underway.
The company expects sales to decline by up to 6% this year.
This means → the patent cliff isn't a distant threat — generics are already eating into peripheral markets, and the countdown for core markets has begun.
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