Matej Mikulic
Research expert covering health, pharma & medtech
Novo Nordisk - Statistics & Facts
Among global top pharmaceutical players, it is quite rare that a company focuses more or less on just one medical condition. Novo Nordisk is one of these rare companies, putting almost all its weight on the development of treatments and therapies for diabetes. The company is headquartered in a suburb of Copenhagen, Denmark. The Scandinavian country is a pharmaceutical stronghold, especially in relation to its size. Novo Nordisk is probably the best-known Danish company worldwide and the country’s second largest in terms of revenue, just behind transportation and logistics giant Maersk.
Focused from the very beginning
In 2023, Novo Nordisk celebrated its 100-year anniversary. From the very beginning in 1923, the then-called Nordisk Insulinlaboratorium focused on the treatment of diabetes and the production of insulin. Back in 2024, Novo Nordisk was ranked second among the top global pharma and biotech companies based on market capitalization, but in the meantime it lost ground and was ranked 10th as of early 2026. It is the world’s largest company for diabetes treatments, with more than two thirds of its around 49-billion-dollar global sales being generated through the company’s diabetes care business. Important competitors in this market are companies like Eli Lilly, Boehringer Ingelheim, and Sanofi. Novo Nordisk’s top diabetes drug is Ozempic, a GLP-1 receptor agonist that increases insulin secretion. Ozempic generated around 20 billion U.S. dollars of revenue in 2025. But while officially a diabetes treatment, Ozempic generates a large share of its revenues by being used off-label as a weight loss drug.Â
Is semaglutide over its peak?
Semaglutide was the major driver for Novo Nordisk’s growth over the last years. Both Wegovy and Ozempic (and Rybelsus) have the same active ingredient, semaglutide — only the dosage is different. Within the years 2022-2023, Wegovy's quarterly sales increased eightfold, while in 2024 it still doubled. Similar to Ozempic, growth was only moderate in 2025. The major reason for that is the rise of Eli Lilly, top challenger in the weight loss market. Its metabolic products Mounjaro and Zepbound show higher effectiveness than Novo Nordisk's counterparts. Analysts also emphasize Eli Lilly's more potent pipeline which is mirrored in the company's much higher market capitalization compared to Novo Nordisk.Â
Ozempic was the first impulse
Overweight and obesity are huge issues in developed countries, causing many health risks like heart diseases and diabetes. The number of people with diabetes and overweight around the world is projected to increase dramatically over the next decades. Thus, weight loss drugs are seen in a much broader picture than just losing weight, suggesting they might become a cornerstone in preventive healthcare around the globe. Within a decade, the obesity market could reach 150 billion U.S. dollar globally. It's no wonder that several other pharmaceutical companies started to enter the race for market shares. So far, Novo Nordisk is still holding its position as incumbent and more than half of the weight loss market.Â
