Novo Nordisk’s global growth cools to 6.4%, but India and APAC defy slump

After years of breakneck expansion driven by the obesity drug gold rush, Danish pharmaceutical giant Novo Nordisk has hit a speed bump. The company’s 2025 Annual Report revealed a sharp deceleration in global sales growth to 6.4%, a steep drop from the 25% surge seen in 2024. However, while Western markets matured, the Asia-Pacific (APAC) region, led by India, emerged as a key growth contributor.

In a year when global operating profit dipped 0.5% due to restructuring costs, APAC sales rose 19%, or 25% at constant exchange rates, far outpacing the company’s global growth rate. By comparison, sales in the US rose 3%, while Emerging Markets grew 3% in reported terms, according to the report. The regional outperformance coincided with NovoNordisk stepping up its presence in India’s expanding GLP-1 market.

The year 2025 marked a dual push in India. In June 2025, the company launched Wegovy, a once-weekly semaglutide injection for chronic weight management, marketed locally under the brand name Poviztra. This was followed by the launch of Ozempic on December 12, 2025, positioned primarily as a treatment for Type-2 diabetes but widely prescribed for its secondary benefits in weight reduction and cardiovascular risk management.

Alongside injectables, Novo Nordisk already sells Rybelsus, the oral formulation of semaglutide for Type-2 diabetes, making it one of the few drugmakers in India with both injectable and oral GLP-1 therapies. Together, these products have positioned India as a key market for the company’s obesity and diabetes portfolio.

Globally, the slowdown has prompted what Novo Nordisk describes as a “company-wide transformation.” As part of this restructuring, the company cut around 9,000 jobs, or roughly 10% of its workforce, to redirect resources towards obesity and diabetes growth initiatives. The company said in the annual report that the restructuring is expected to generate annual savings of nearly ₹96,000 crore (DKK 8 billion) from 2026 onwards.

Despite retaining a dominant 59.6% share of the global branded obesity market, Novo Nordisk acknowledged that competition is intensifying. In a joint message in the annual report, Chair of the Board of Directors Lars Rebien Sørensen and Chief Executive Officer Maziar Mike Doustdar said that “virtually every major pharmaceutical company now recognises this as an attractive market,” pointing to a more crowded obesity drug development environment.
The company also cautioned that it is “not promising a rapid return to the extraordinary growth rates of recent years,” pointing to pricing pressure, rising competition and market maturation.

Another key factor is the upcoming loss of exclusivity for semaglutide in certain international markets over the next few years. Rather than framing this as a threat, Novo Nordisk said that “patent cliffs become stepping stones to broader access.” The company added that generic competition will expand access to obesity treatments, even as it continues to invest in higher-dose versions, oral formulations and next-generation obesity drugs.

Global net sales stood at DKK 309,064 million (approximately ₹37.1 lakh crore) in 2025, while operating profit declined 0.5% to DKK 127,658 million (around ₹15.3 lakh crore), impacted by restructuring costs linked to the company-wide transformation, the report said.