Shares in Novo Nordisk plummeted 18 per cent this morning after the fat jab maker warned of a sharp sales decline as it is squeezed by rival Eli Lilly and US pricing pressures. 

The Danish group, which makes slimming drugs Ozempic and Wegovy, said it expected sales to fall by between 5 per cent and 13 per cent this year, compared with growth of 10 per cent last year.  Analysts had expected a 2 per cent decline this year.

Chief executive Mike Doustdar – who has been tasked with turning around the company’s fortunes – said the firm ‘will face pricing headwinds in an increasingly competitive market’. 

The company said that while the global demand for obesity drugs will continue to rise, revenues will be hit by lower prices, including in the US, where Donald Trump is pressuring pharmaceutical firms to sell their products more cheaply.

Shares in the fat jab pioneer have already lost two-thirds of their value since peaking in June 2024.

Novo Nordisk is fighting to recapture its crown in the obesity drug market after Mounjaro maker Eli Lilly’s Zepbound overtook Wegovy in US prescriptions.