Key facts
- Novo Nordisk CEO Mike Doustdar believes weight-loss pills could capture 50% of the global obesity drug market by 2030.
- Novo Nordisk has five oral treatments in development.
- Competitors are heavily focused on injectables, with eight injectables for every two pills in development.
- Wall Street forecasts expect oral treatments to account for 14% to 40% of the obesity market by 2030.
- The obesity market is projected to reach between $100 billion and $150 billion by 2030.
- Novo's Wegovy pill accounts for about a third of US obesity prescriptions.
Novo Nordisk's CEO, Mike Doustdar, told Reuters that oral weight-loss medications could capture as much as half of the global obesity drug market by 2030, signaling a potential shift away from the company's current injectable-dominant treatments. Doustdar indicated that Novo is preparing for this scenario, noting that competitors are heavily focused on injectables, which could favor Novo's strategy.
If realized, a 50/50 split between pills and injectables would exceed Wall Street's projections, which anticipate oral treatments making up 14% to 40% of the obesity market, expected to be worth between $100 billion and $150 billion by 2030. Novo Nordisk has already seen success with its Wegovy pill, which now accounts for about a third of US obesity prescriptions, with the company holding over 80% of new oral prescriptions. The company's oral pipeline includes zenagamtide, an oral amylin analogue, and a small-molecule drug. Doustdar also stated that oral Wegovy is protected by patents into the mid-to-late 2030s.