Novo Nordisk

Business in Russia

2022: Ivanishcheva Irina - the new head of Novo Nordisk's office in Russia and Belarus

At the end of May 2022, it became known about the appointment of Irina Ivanishcheva as vice president and general manager of the Novo Nordisk branch in Russia and Belarus. Read more here.

History

2025: Lay off 11% of employees due to lack of money

Danish pharmaceutical company Novo Nordisk announced the reduction of 9 thousand employees, which is 11% of the state, as part of a corporate transformation to increase competitiveness in the market for anti-obesity drugs. Mass layoffs will save the company $1.3 billion, which will be directed to development in the fight against diabetes and obesity, including commercial initiatives and scientific research. This was announced by Novo Nordisk on September 10, 2025.

More than half of the cuts - about 5 thousand people - are planned to be carried out directly in Denmark. At the same time, the company lowered its operating profit forecast for 2025 from previously expected 10-16% to 4-10%, which was the third revision of the forecast since the beginning of the financial year.

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Фото: cbsnews.com

The decision on mass layoffs is dictated by the need to simplify the organizational structure, increase the speed of decision-making and redistribute resources towards growth opportunities. Novo Nordisk CEO Mike Dustdar noted that the obesity treatment market is becoming more competitive and consumer oriented.

Dustdar said the company must evolve in line with market changes. The remaining employees will have to change their thinking and approach to work faster and more flexibly in the new environment, he said.

Novo Nordisk produces popular anti-obesity drugs Ozempik and Wegovy based on semaglutide, a synthetic analogue of the hormone glucagon-like peptide-1. "Ozempik" was originally developed for the treatment of type 2 diabetes, but was widely used due to the ability to promote weight loss.

The drug received approval FDA for sale USA in 2017, appeared on the European market in 2019 and on the Russian market in 2020. Wegovy contains the same active ingredient as "Ozempik," but at a different dosage and is specifically designed to combat obesity.^[1]

2024: Novo Holdings becomes Europe's largest publicly traded company with a market value of more than $540 billion

By February 2024, Novo Holdings, the largest shareholder in Danish drugmaker Novo Nordisk, had risen 72% in the previous 12 months. Novo Holdings has become the largest public company in Europe with a market value of more than $540 billion.

The success of weight-loss drugs like Ozempic and Wegovy has turned Novo Nordisk into Europe's biggest company.

The company plans to invest up to $7 billion a year by 2030.

2023: Novo Nordisk buys Inversago for $1.07 billion

On August 10, 2023, Danish pharmaceutical company Novo Nordisk announced an agreement to acquire Canadian obesity drug developer Inversago Pharma. The transaction amount is approximately $1 billion. Read more here.

2022: Novo Nordisk acquires Forma Therapeutics for $1.1 billion

On September 1, 2022, Novo Nordisk announced the allocation of $1.1 billion for the purchase of Forma Therapeutics, hoping that the assets of the acquired company, which are at the clinical stage, will help create a leading portfolio of drugs for the treatment of sickle cell disease (SCB). Read more here.

2021

$3.3 billion purchase of drugmaker Dicerna Pharmaceuticals

On November 18, 2021, Danish drugmaker Novo Nordisk announced the purchase for $3.3 billion of Dicerna Pharmaceuticals, which specializes in therapeutic drugs aimed at combating disease-causing genes. The deal, priced at $38.25 per share, represents a premium of 79% to the closing price before it was announced. The deal, which will be largely leveraged, is expected to close in the fourth quarter of 2021. Read more here.

Purchase of the developer of the drug for the treatment of cardiomyopathy Prothena for $1.2 billion

In mid-July 2021, it became known that Novo Nordisk bought the developer of the drug for the treatment of cardiomyopathy Prothena for $1.2 billion. As a result, Novo Nordisk acquired PRX004, a drug in clinical development, as well as a broader development program for the treatment of familial amyloid cardiomyopathy. Read more here.

2019: Abbott, Medtronic, Sanofi and Novo Nordisk start sharing diabetic data

In mid-September 2019, Abbott and Medtronic announced data sharing agreements for digital diabetes care solutions. For example, Abbott is partnering with Sanofi to integrate glucose assessment and insulin delivery tools. And Medtronic is partnering with Novo Nordisk to use insulin dosing data from smart pen syringes in its glucose monitoring devices. Read more here.

1923: Founding of the Company

The company was founded in 1923.