CEO of Novo Nordisk, maker of weight loss drug Wegovy, to step down in wake of share price drop

Key Points

• CEO Lars Fruergaard Jorgensen is stepping down by “mutual agreement” with the board, citing recent market challenges and a steep decline in Novo Nordisk’s share price.
• The company’s shares have plunged over 50% since mid-2024 after it downgraded sales and profit forecasts for its weight loss blockbuster Wegovy.
• US Wegovy sales were undercut by cheaper compounding pharmacy replicas using patented ingredients, though the FDA says shortages have eased and the replicas must cease soon.
• A head-to-head study published in the New England Journal of Medicine found rival drug Zepbound delivered greater weight loss, intensifying competition in the obesity medication market.

FRANKFURT, Germany (AP) — Danish pharmaceutical company Novo Nordisk A/S, maker of blockbuster weight loss drug Wegovy, said Friday its CEO was stepping down by “mutual agreement” with the company's board of directors, citing “recent market challenges” and a steep decline in the company's share price.

Lars Fruergaard Jorgensen's departure comes a week after the company downgraded its sales and profits forecast, and follows a more than 50% decline in the company's shares since mid-2024. Shares had skyrocketed after the introduction of Wegovy and diabetes medicine Ozempic, which are both based on the same basic ingredient, semaglutide.

At the peak, the company's market capitalization - or the combined price of all its shares - exceeded Denmark's annual gross domestic product and made it Europe's most valuable company, a title it has since lost to software maker SAP.

The company said May 7 that Wegovy sales in the U.S. had been undercut by cheaper replica drugs produced by so-called compounding pharmacies using active ingredients of patented drugs in case of shortage. The Food and Drug Administration, the U.S. drug regulator, has said however that the shortages have eased and the replicas will have to cease in the coming months.

The drugs are part of a wave of obesity medications known as GLP-1 receptor agonists that also includes another Novo weight loss drug, Saxenda. They have soared in popularity due to the amount of weight people lose while taking the injections.

On Sunday a study was published in the New England Journal of Medicine showing people lost more weight using competitor drug Zepbound, made by Eli Lilly of Indianapolis. The study, the first head-to-head comparison of the two, was funded by Lilly. Novo Nordisk's share price is down 54% from its peak in June 2024. Its U.S.-listed shares fell another 3% in morning trading Friday.

The company, headquartered in Bagsvaerd, Denmark, praised a “significant growth journey and transformation” led by Jorgensen during his eight years as CEO. He has been with the company since 1991.

“The changes are, however, made in light of the recent market challenges Novo Nordisk has been facing, and the development of the company’s share price since mid-2024,” the company said in a statement. The board and Jorgensen “have jointly concluded that initiating a CEO succession is in the best interest of the company and its shareholders.”

Jorgensen will continue as CEO “for a period” to support a smooth transition.

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AP Health Writer Tom Murphy contributed from Indianapolis.