Novo Nordisk, the manufacturer of Ozempic, announced a plan to reduce its global workforce by approximately 9,000 positions today. Around 5,000 positions are expected to be cut in Denmark. This will reduce the company’s workforce from its current 78,400 positions to approximately 69,400.
The company’s stock has fallen about 58% over the past year as the company has trimmed its guidance for 2025.
The aim of the cuts is “to simplify [the company’s] organization, improve the speed of decision-making, and reallocate resources towards the company’s growth opportunities in diabetes and obesity,” according to the press release. The company hopes the decision will help it compete in the obesity market, a sector that has been in the spotlight this year as GLP-1s skyrocketed in popularity as weight loss drugs. At one point in 2024, Novo Nordisk’s market value was worth more than that of Denmark. Its plummeting valuation played a role in Denmark cutting its annual growth rate in August. The firm is headquartered in Copenhagen.
Novo Nordisk expects the workforce reduction to save the company approximately DKK 8 billion ($1.3 billion USD) by the end of 2026. The company plans to use the savings to invest in “growth opportunities in diabetes and obesity.”
Novo Nordisk expects DKK 8 billion in net one-off restructuring costs. Approximately DKK 9 billion ($1.4 billion) in the third quarter of 2025, which will be offset by savings of around DKK 1 billion ($156.6 million) in the fourth quarter. In total, the company expects an estimated negative impact of 6 percentage points on full-year operating profit growth at CER in 2025, compared to the 10-16% at CER estimated on Aug. 6, meaning the current estimate of operating profit growth for 2025 is 4-10% at CER.
Novo Nordisk fails to keep up with Eli Lilly in first half of 2025
Novo Nordisk stock is down 37.70% YTD. It dipped sharply in August, following disappointing sales and a lower growth expectation for the second half of the year, as well as the appointment of a new CEO. Although Ozempic has basically become synonymous with ‘weight loss treatment’ for the public, Novo Nordisk is struggling against growing competition from drugs such as Eli Lilly’s Zepbound.
Novo Nordisk has failed to keep up with Eli Lilly
Eli Lilly stock is also down YTD, but only 3.75% compared to Novo Nordisk’s almost 40%. Eli Lilly’s two GLP-1 drugs, Mounjaro and Zepbound, generated a combined $14,734 million in sales YTD as of Aug. 7. Comparatively, Novo Nordisk’s GLP-1s generated $7,831.22 million in the first six months of 2025. Studies have shown that tirzepatide could be more effective than semaglutide for weight loss, which could be a factor in Lilly stock’s resilience.
In addition to the two GLP-1 injections, Eli Lilly is working on a weight loss pill. The company reported favorable Phase 3 results last month, saying that it is on track to submit the drug for regulatory approval by year-end. Anticipation for this pill, which most patients will likely prefer over an injection, could bolster Lilly stock.
Filed Under: Endocrinology, Metabolic disease/endicrinology
