Novo Nordisk Trims Pipeline and Rebrands as Competition in Obesity Care Intensifies
Published on 09/17/2026 at 10:50 | Editorial boerse-global.de
Novo Nordisk is shedding another experimental obesity programme while simultaneously trying to sharpen its commercial edge. The Danish drugmaker has pulled the plug on a research collaboration with Ascendis Pharma that was signed in 2024, handing back worldwide rights to the TransCon technology and to a once-monthly formulation of semaglutide. Milestone payments of up to USD 285 million tied to the deal are now off the table.
The decision marks the third setback for Novo Nordisk in monthly GLP-1 therapies within two years. An in-house GLP-1/GIP candidate was shelved earlier, and the company lost a bidding contest for Metsera to rival Pfizer. With the Ascendis partnership terminated, no monthly-dosed product remains in the company's development pipeline.
Cultural Reset Meets Pipeline Clean-Up
Chief Executive Officer Mike Doustdar is pushing for a more customer-focused corporate culture, telling staff on Tuesday that regaining lost ground in the obesity drug market is the priority, according to a Reuters report. The internal appeal followed Monday's announcement that the company will operate under the shortened brand name "Novo" in day-to-day use — a move management tied to a broader cultural fresh start.
The pipeline clean-up lands in a testing stretch for the group. In the second quarter, Novo Nordisk held 38.8% of the obesity therapy market, while rival Eli Lilly commanded 60.9%. Doustdar acknowledged the need to win back share in an interview with US broadcaster CNBC.
Attention now centres on the weekly combination drug CagriSema, which faces a US Food and Drug Administration decision in the fourth quarter of 2026. The candidate Amycretin is in a Phase 3 trial after showing weight reduction of 22.0% over 36 weeks in earlier studies.
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Diversification Woes Beyond the Core
Pressure on management has mounted as the hoped-for expansion outside diabetes and obesity has proven harder than planned. On 7 September, the company halted the two Phase 3 trials HERMES and ATHENA with experimental cardiovascular drug Ziltivekimab. An independent data monitoring committee had concluded there was a low likelihood of clinically meaningful benefit in either study.
That halt dimmed prospects for quickly building new pillars beyond the established GLP-1 franchise, raising the stakes for Novo Nordisk to defend its core business against competitors while opening new uses for proven compounds.
Progress in GLP-1 Indications
Even with the cardiovascular disappointment, the company has reported advances in widening the labels of existing medicines. On 10 September, Chinese regulators cleared Wegovy for treating metabolic dysfunction-associated steatohepatitis (MASH) — the first approval of a GLP-1 receptor agonist for the severe liver disease in that market.
Two days earlier, Novo Nordisk released late-stage data on semaglutide showing that after 68 weeks of treatment, 40.4% of participating children aged 6 to under 12 with full adherence were no longer classified as obese.
Market Reaction and Analyst Caution
The stock traded at EUR 36.48 in pre-market action, up 0.9% at EUR 36.76 during the session. Since the start of the year, the shares have lost roughly 16% to 17%, sitting about 34% below their 52-week high of EUR 54.86. Morgan Stanley downgraded the stock just over a week ago, and the paper has shed 0.9% in value since then.
For investors, the picture is clear: near-term earnings power still rests primarily on market penetration and label expansion of the GLP-1 product family, while the leadership tries to lift internal momentum in parallel.
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