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Stockpiling boosts profit at top diabetic drug company

Novo Nordisk wary of pandemic’s impact on patient diagnosis and ability to pay

Novo Nordisk, the Danish company that is the world’s biggest manufacturer of insulin, beat forecasts in the first quarter.

Wed May 6 2020 - 16:47

The world's top maker of diabetes drugs, Novo Nordisk, beat profit and sales forecasts in the first quarter and kept its full-year outlook as diabetics stocking up during the coronavirus pandemic led to a surge in demand for its medicines.

Novo Nordisk joined US rival Eli Lilly and other drugmakers in keeping or even raising full-year forecasts as lockdowns to combat the spread of the virus lead to stockpiling of drugs.

"Covid-19 related stocking at patient levels significantly impacted our results, however, we are satisfied with the underlying performance," chief executive Lars Fruergaard Jorgensen told journalists on Wednesday.

First-quarter sales jumped 14 per cent to 33.9 billion Danish krone (€4.5 billion), beating the DKr31.5 billion forecast by analysts, but growth would have been only half that level without Covid-19-related stockpiling.

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Operating profit came in at DKr16.3 billion, compared to an average DKr14.2 billion expected by analysts.

Mr Jorgensen said there would probably be a “pool of patients” waiting to get treated for type 2 diabetes after the pandemic. Novo said the outlook was based on the assumption that patient flows would normalise in the third and fourth quarter.

“The number of people getting diabetes is not changing so the patients are there but it is clear that when healthcare systems are focused on Covid-19 there is less initiation of new patients,” Mr Jorgensen said.

It was also uncertain how the surge in US unemployment numbers would impact sales if many patients either lose health insurance coverage or opt for lower-income schemes. – Reuters

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