Korea has Samsung Group, the Netherlands has ASML semiconductors, and now Denmark has Ozempic. Or to be precise, Novo Nordisk pharmaceuticals.
Novo Nordisk, whose offices sit just outside Copenhagen, was founded in 1923. Before Ozempic, it was mostly known as an insulin manufacturer.
Ozempic, the brand name for the pharmaceutical semaglutide, was approved in the US for use by type 2 diabetics in December 2017. However, interest didn’t take off until 2022.
In May, #OzempicChallenge went viral on TikTok, with users showing before and after pics of their weight loss. By the 17th, Australia’s TGA was reporting shortages, and the drug is still listed as in shortage in the US. In October 2022, Elon Musk tweeted that he was using Wegovy, the same Novo Nordisk-made semaglutide but branded for weight loss.
Novo’s 2023 annual report shows the whopping effect this blip in the digital hive mind had on the company and on tiny Denmark.
The company reported a 154% increase in “obesity care sales” in 2023. Its total sales grew by 36% and operating profit by 44%.
In absolute terms, the company’s sales reached A$50.3 billion, with more than half of sales in the US. With just 64,000 employees on the payroll worldwide, Novo factored a massive A$22.2 billion as operating profit.
With its suite of semaglutide-based products patented for another eight years in the US, Novo’s share price has quadrupled since early 2020. Its market capitalisation now sits at a ridiculous A$593 billion. For comparison, BHP is worth A$214 billion and Pfizer is A$243 billion.
The effects are marked in Denmark, a country of just 6 million. In 2023 Novo paid A$11 billion in taxes, $13 billion in dividends and invested $9 billion in expanding its Danish production facilities. Ignoring salaries paid to its Danish employees, that amounts to $5,500 of semaglutide money coming to Denmark per man, woman and child in the country.
They say countries can’t be picking winners in the business sector, but it sure is nice to have one.
Thumbnail image of Copenhagen courtesy of @zacharyshakked via Unsplash.
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