Key Takeaways
- Novo Nordisk rebrand comes as the company seeks to regain ground in the obesity-drug market.
- CEO Mike Doustdar says the company needs to rethink its long-term strategy.
- Novo plans simpler workflows, clearer priorities and stronger patient-focused innovation.
Novo Nordisk is rebranding as “Novo” and overhauling its corporate culture as CEO Mike Doustdar seeks to rethink the drugmaker’s strategy and regain obesity-drug market share from Eli Lilly.
Novo Rebrand Marks New Chapter
The Danish pharmaceutical company announced the changes Monday, describing the Novo Nordisk rebrand as the start of a new chapter as it faces tougher competition, investor pressure and the need to develop new growth drivers.
Novo will remain the company’s legal name. The rebrand centers on the phrase “Lasting Health Starts Now,” which the company says is intended to strengthen trust and make its science more relevant to patients and other stakeholders.
In an interview with CNBC, Doustdar said the Novo Nordisk rebrand and cultural changes are “part of the same package” as Novo adjusts to a rapidly changing market.
“There’s no secret that over the last four or five years, the external environment and what has happened to Novo Nordisk has really made us reflect on how we need to readjust and rethink the next decade to come,” Doustdar said.
The company is preparing to outline broader changes to its business strategy at its Capital Markets Day on Sept. 21.
Novo Seeks To Close Obesity Market Gap
Novo’s strategic reset comes as it trails Lilly in the obesity-drug market. Novo held 38.8% of the market in the second quarter, compared with 60.9% for Lilly, according to data from IQVIA cited in a Lilly earnings presentation.
The Novo Nordisk rebrand comes as Novo shares have fallen about 15% this year despite the launch of an oral version of its Wegovy weight-loss drug. The pill had generated more than 3 million prescriptions by June, according to the company.
Doustdar said Novo needs to improve across research and development, manufacturing, sales and marketing to compete more effectively.
“The work is cut out for us,” he said.
The company has also faced setbacks in its development pipeline, including its decision to scrap three trials for an experimental cardiovascular drug.
Doustdar said the changes, including the Novo Nordisk rebrand, are not solely a response to losing obesity market share but reflect a broader shift in how the company operates.
“Our operating environment has changed phenomenally compared to just 10 years ago,” he said.
Culture Shift Targets Speed And Simplicity
The obesity-drug market has changed Novo’s patient base, with consumers moving on and off treatments more frequently than patients traditionally do in diabetes care, Doustdar said.
That shift means Novo needs to respond more quickly to patients and simplify how decisions are made, he said.
The company outlined four new cultural principles: putting patients at the center of innovation, improving performance to create greater value for stakeholders, establishing clearer priorities and simpler workflows, and maintaining patient safety and ethics.
Doustdar said strategy alone is not enough to change the company’s direction.
“When you think about strategy, that’s really the journey you’re taking and the direction you’re setting the company to go forward with,” he said. “But you also need behaviors. You need a cultural element that allows your colleagues and yourself to really make sure that a strategy gets executed.”
Novo also sees its oral Wegovy launch as a major opportunity following the Novo Nordisk rebrand. Doustdar said the company retains a “lion’s share” of the oral obesity-drug market despite competition.
He said physicians consider the Wegovy pill more effective, with weight loss of about 17%, although the story does not provide an independent source for that comparison.
Novo’s 1989 legal name followed the merger of Novo Terapeutisk Laboratorium and Nordisk Insulinlaboratorium, two Danish pharmaceutical companies that had previously competed with each other.
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