{"text":[[{"start":8.08,"text":"Novo shareholders have called on the Danish drugmaker to develop new medicines and pursue acquisitions to reduce its reliance on blockbuster weight-loss treatments, ahead of its investor day on Monday."}],[{"start":19.96,"text":"The Ozempic maker is preparing for its first capital markets day under chief executive Mike Doustdar, who is under pressure to show that the company can claw back ground lost to main rival Eli Lilly in the obesity drug market and diversify into new therapeutic areas."}],[{"start":36.28,"text":"Shareholders told the FT that the pharmaceutical group — Europe’s most valuable listed company as recently as last year — must grow its portfolio, including through deals. Eugen Uretzki, an investment analyst at top 15 shareholder Flossbach, said there were “two jobs for a chief executive: you have to develop the assets and commercialise them”."}],[{"start":55.84,"text":"He said the “development of assets is still to be proven”, adding this was “urgent given the competition from Lilly”, whose Zepbound jabs now dominate the market for obesity injectables."}],[{"start":65.6,"text":"Since taking over last year, Doustdar has slashed more than 9,000 jobs. This week the company unveiled a rebrand — ditching Nordisk from its name — and promised a cultural reset dubbed “The Novo Way”. At a town-hall meeting in Copenhagen on Tuesday Doustdar told employees this meant being more consumer focused."}],[{"start":82.76,"text":"But investors are looking for evidence that the group can grow its pipeline to ensure it is protected from a loss of revenue when its semaglutide-based drugs lose exclusivity. Unlike Lilly, whose portfolio also includes cancer and neuroscience medicines, Novo generates more than 90 per cent of its sales from diabetes and obesity treatments, including semaglutide-based Ozempic and Wegovy."}],[{"start":105.84,"text":"Julia Angeles, investment manager at shareholder Baillie Gifford, said Novo needed to “lay out what the transition from Ozempic looks like”, including by pursuing partnerships that would allow it to explore experimental treatments before fully committing to them."}],[{"start":119.48,"text":"“I would like to see Novo put their tentacles in as many novel approaches as possible,” she said, adding that investors needed to see a plan in relation to dealmaking. “You cannot do M&A without a clear strategy.”"}],[{"start":132.36,"text":"However, Angeles added that Novo should also focus on creating a pipeline of drugs capable of meeting the needs of a broader group of patients. This should include developing new obesity treatments that could be better tolerated and reduce muscle loss."}],[{"start":146.72,"text":"Novo’s market cap soared above $600bn in 2024 after riding a surge of popularity for its pioneering weight-loss jabs. But its stock tumbled after Lilly, which makes Zepbound and Mounjaro, gained market share and overtook it in the crucial US market."}],[{"start":165.08,"text":"Novo was also first to bring out a weight-loss pill, and still leads the market for oral obesity drugs, with its Wegovy pill exceeding 161,065 weekly prescriptions on September 11, according to data provider IQVIA, more than three times the level of Lilly’s. It is expected to launch a new weight-loss treatment, CagriSema, next year after submitting it for approval last December."}],[{"start":188.68,"text":"But it has suffered a number of setbacks in its wider portfolio, including the recent late-stage trial failure of a drug aimed at reducing the risk of heart attacks."}],[{"start":197.24,"text":"Meanwhile it faces losing exclusivity on semaglutide patents in Europe and the US starting in the 2030s. It has already lost exclusivity this year in India, Brazil, Canada and Turkey, enabling generic competitors to launch much cheaper alternatives. Sales are due to fall by up to 6 per cent this year."}],[{"start":216.2,"text":"“Novo is in trouble,” said one previously long-term investor who recently sold their fund’s stake in the Danish group. “They need something to replace semaglutide just to stand still."}],[{"start":226.8,"text":"“They should have been doing M&A long ago . . . A year ago you could buy things cheaply, now biotech is very expensive.”"}],[{"start":233.36,"text":"“I’m a little surprised we haven’t seen anything [on deals] yet,” said Michael Leuchten, an analyst at Jefferies. “They should be doing business development and thinking of adding assets to the portfolio.” However, he added: “This is a company that hasn’t been particularly successful with BD and I’m not entirely sure how brave this management team is at this point in time.”"}],[{"start":254.92,"text":"Novo declined to comment."}],[{"start":260.22,"text":""}]],"url":"https://audio.ftcn.net.cn/album/a_1789905124_3040.mp3"}