AI interpretation based on checked source excerpts. Issuer assertions and evidence limitations remain explicit.
Policy quality-scores-2: six equally weighted categories. The overall score requires full coverage. Missing inputs are not zero. Qualitative grades are sourced interpretations, not probabilities. 6/6 · 19/10/2026
Moat38
Equal-weight average of four evidence-backed rubric grades (0–4), scaled to 100.
structural advantage · 2/4 · Principal-product patents and commercially successful formulations establish a current intangible-asset barrier. Realized share losses limit the strength of differentiation; manufacturing scale does not establish lower relative costs.
durability · 2/4 · Patent protection into 2031–2032 in major markets and multi-year Wegovy demand support persistence. China expiry in 2026, generic challenges and actual legacy-product erosion make durability finite and mixed.
customer dependency · 1/4 · Prescription demand provides indirect evidence of therapeutic reliance, but dependence on Novo Nordisk specifically is fragile given share losses and payer bargaining control. Patient-level switching friction is not established.
erosion resilience · 1/4 · Pill uptake and new-patient-start leadership show a commercial response, but continued price declines and substantial gross-margin compression demonstrate fragile economic resilience. A sustained reversal of erosion is not established.
Pricing power31
Equal-weight average of four evidence-backed rubric grades (0–4), scaled to 100.
realized pricing · 0/4 · Direct adverse outcomes include US net-price declines in 2023–2025 and lower realized prices in Q2 2026, including China reductions. Announced 2027 US list-price cuts add prospective pressure but are not counted as realized outcomes.
retention · 2/4 · Assessed indirectly from multi-year Wegovy growth, ongoing prescriptions and 2026 volume growth. These support continuing demand, while share losses and H1 diabetes sales weakness are contrary evidence. No patient retention rate is inferred.
margin resilience · 2/4 · Q2 adjusted gross margin fell from 82.7% to 78.2%, reflecting lower prices, manufacturing agreement costs and currency. Productivity and spending savings helped H1 adjusted operating profit grow 2% at CER alongside 2% adjusted sales growth. This is mixed resilience, with reported growth distorted by the exceptional 340B reversal.
contractual freedom · 1/4 · Payer purchasing control demonstrably drives higher rebates, and the pricing-law challenge failed at the Supreme Court stage. Novo Nordisk can announce list-price changes, but disclosed outcomes show constrained effective pricing discretion. Detailed payer contract terms are missing.
Predictability91
Five consecutive annual periods. Equal weights: nondeclining revenue frequency; revenue-growth volatility (5–40pp); positive FCF frequency; FCF-margin volatility (3–20pp). Stability indicator, not a growth forecast.
- Nondeclining revenue years (%)
- 100.00
- Revenue growth volatility (pp)
- 9.37
- Positive FCF years (%)
- 100.00
- FCF margin volatility (pp)
- 7.11
Financial strength68
Equal-weight grades: debt/FCF (1–8x), net debt/earnings before interest and tax (0–5x), interest service (1–12x), current ratio (0.75–2x). Earnings use reported operating income, or reported pretax profit plus reported interest expense when operating income is unavailable. Interest service uses earnings/interest expense; if unavailable, it uses reported operating cash flow/cash interest paid, without relabeling cash paid as accrued expense. Nonpositive cash flow/earnings score 0 for their service component; reported zero interest with a positive numerator scores 100. Net cash scores 100 for net leverage. Missing disclosures remain unavailable. General nonfinancial-company rubric, not a credit rating; exceptional and nonoperating gains are not normalized out. IFRS finance-cost and cash-flow classifications retain their reported scope.
- debtFcfGrade
- 82.56
- netDebtEbitGrade
- 83.63
- interestCoverageGrade
- 100.00
- currentRatioGrade
- 3.97
- Debt / FCF (x)
- 2.22
- Net debt / operating income (x)
- 0.82
- Interest coverage (x)
- 30.34
- Current ratio (x)
- 0.80
Capital allocation94
Three-year equal-weight indicators: pretax return on average invested capital (0–25%; equity + debt − cash, each year and its prior year), share-count growth (0–5%, lower better), share-based cost/revenue (2–20%, lower better), consolidated FCF/net income (0–1x). Return uses reported operating income or, if unavailable, EBIT calculated from reported pretax profit plus reported interest expense; exceptional/nonoperating gains are not normalized out. Share-based cost uses the reported cash-flow add-back or, if absent, separately reported recognized compensation expense; the latter never becomes an FCF adjustment. Nonpositive net income scores 0 for cash conversion; absent income/FCF stays unavailable. Nonpositive invested capital has no defined return and remains unavailable. Does not establish acquisition quality or buyback timing.
- 3-year pre-tax operating return (%)
- 72.23
- 3-year average dilution (%)
- -0.65
- 3-year average SBC / revenue (%)
- 0.73
- cashConversionGrade
- 75.19
Management50
Equal-weight average of four evidence-backed rubric grades (0–4), scaled to 100.
capital discipline · 2/4 · H1 2026 free cash flow of DKK 55.3 billion exceeded DKK 41.2 billion of distributions, with lower actual capital expenditure. Timing benefits limit extrapolation. The debt-financed USD 11.7 billion acquisition, pipeline impairments and manufacturing agreement right-sizing costs offset these positives; investment returns remain unproven.
incentive alignment · 2/4 · Existing LTIPs disclose three-year performance periods, continued-employment conditions, subsequent holding periods and financial and non-financial targets. The 2025 expected-vesting disclosure confirms ongoing programmes but does not prove actual vesting or effective payout calibration. Individual ownership and realized awards remain insufficiently disclosed.
execution · 2/4 · Supply improvement, prescription uptake, formulation launches and approvals demonstrate delivery through operating outcomes. Share losses, pipeline impairments and the failed ZEUS endpoint make the overall record mixed. Results are not attributed entirely to the recently appointed CEO.
governance · 2/4 · Separate board and executive membership and specified Audit Committee oversight establish substantive governance arrangements. Concentrated voting control and less-than-half independent People & Governance Committee membership constrain minority safeguards. These structures do not demonstrate exceptional oversight effectiveness.
Evidence
•Mixtard® 50, biphasic human insulin
OBESITY&
Wegovy® injection
2032
2026
2031
2031
Wegovy® pill
2032
2026
2031
2031
Saxenda®
Expired
Expired
Expired
Expired
DIABETES&
Ozempic®
2032
2026
2031
2031
Rybelsus®
2032
2026
2031
2031
Tresiba®
2029
Expired
2027
2028
Xultophy®
2029
Expired
Expired
2028
Ryzodeg®
2029
Expired
Expired
2028
Victoza®
Expired
Expired
Expired
Expired
Human insulin and Modern insulins3
Expired
Expired
Expired
Expired
RARE DISEASE
NovoSeven®
Expired
Expired
Expired
Expired
Norditropin®
Expired
Expired
Expired
Expired
1.
2025 Annual Report, patent status table · Filed 04/02/2026
In its fifth year after launch, revenue for the GLP-1 product Wegovy®, grew 36%, to DKK 79 billion.
Item 4, 2025 Wegovy commercial performance · Filed 04/02/2026
In its fourth year after launch the GLP-1 product, Wegovy® revenue, grew 86% to DKK 58 billion.
Item 4, 2024 Wegovy commercial performance · Filed 05/02/2025
–including more than 265,000 weekly TRx for Wegovy® pill, with best-in-class GLP-1 volume launch and now more than 5 million TRx since launch.
H1 2026 strategic milestones, Wegovy pill prescriptions · Filed 04/08/2026
–Wegovy® pill approved in the UAE and the UK in June and in the EU in July
Diabetes&:
–UBT251 phase 2 trial in China successfully completed
–Awiqli® approved in the US
–The ZEUS phase 3 trial with ziltivekimab did not meet the primary endpoint
Rare Disease:
–Etavopivat HIBISCUS phase 3 trial completed, successfully meeting both co-primary endpoints
–Alhemo® paediatric US submission
–Sogroya® positive opinion achieved in the EU and approved in Japan for non-replacement indications
H1 2026 regulatory and clinical milestones · Filed 04/08/2026
•Wegovy® HD was launched in the US in April, and Wegovy® 7.2 mg single-dose pen in the UK in June.
Q2 2026 commercial highlights, higher-dose launches · Filed 04/08/2026
However, due to increased competition in both US and ex-US markets, Novo Nordisk has lost volume market share in the GLP-1 market places for both obesity and diabetes.
Item 4, realized 2025 GLP-1 volume-share losses · Filed 04/02/2026
Q2 2026 adjusted sales increased by 7% at CER to DKK 78,488 million, driven by GLP-1 volume growth in both operating units, partly offset by lower realised prices.
Q2 2026 adjusted sales, volume and realized pricing · Filed 04/08/2026
Ozempic® ANDA Patent Litigation
Cipla notified Novo Nordisk that they have filed an ANDA with the FDA for a generic version of Ozempic®.
Legal matters, Cipla Ozempic generic application · Filed 04/08/2026
The ANDA contains Paragraph IV certifications to obtain approval to engage in the commercial manufacture, use, or sale of such products before the expiration of the patents currently listed for Ozempic® in the Orange Book.
Legal matters, proposed entry before listed patent expiration · Filed 04/08/2026
Adjusted gross margin was realised at 78.2%, compared with 82.7% in Q2 2025.
Q2 2026 adjusted gross-margin comparison · Filed 04/08/2026
The decline in gross margin is impacted by lower realised prices, one-time costs of around DKK 3 billion related to right-sizing of manufacturing capacity agreements, as well as a negative currency impact.
Q2 2026 gross-margin decline, pricing and capacity agreement costs · Filed 04/08/2026
•Q2 2026 reported operating profit decreased by 16% at CER, with growth negatively impacted by the US 340B rebate provision reversal in Q2 2025 as well as non-cash impairment charges of DKK 6.3 billion in Q2 2026 related to intangible pipeline assets, including monlunabant (DKK 4.0 billion).
Q2 2026 reported operating profit and pipeline impairments · Filed 04/08/2026
US payers continue to leverage their size and control to demand higher rebates, particularly in the insulin segment, but increasingly in the GLP-1 category, as well.
Item 5, payer purchasing control and rebates · Filed 04/02/2026
As a result, average prices after rebates for the Novo Nordisk portfolio in 2025 in the United States declined.
Item 5, realized 2025 US net-price decline · Filed 04/02/2026
As a result, average prices after rebates for the Novo Nordisk portfolio in 2024 in the United States declined.
Item 5, realized 2024 US net-price decline · Filed 05/02/2025
In 2023, the average net price of both the US product portfolio and the US insulin portfolio decreased by 8.2% and 24.4%, respectively, compared to 10.5% and 19.5% in 2022, as a result of enhancements to secure formulary access for insured patients, as well as the evolution of channel and payer mix.
2023 Annual Report, US portfolio net-price changes · Filed 31/01/2024
The lower Wegovy® prices were mainly realised in Region China, following list price reductions in late Q4 2025.
Q2 2026 International Operations, realized China price reductions · Filed 04/08/2026
During the quarter, Novo Nordisk announced that, effective 1 January, 2027, the company will lower the list price, or wholesale acquisition cost (WAC), of Wegovy® (semaglutide) injection 2.4 mg, injection 7.2 mg and tablets up to 25 mg, Ozempic® (semaglutide) injection 0.5 mg, 1 mg, and 2 mg, and Ozempic pill® (semaglutide) tablets 7 mg or 14 mg to USD 675, representing reductions from the current list price of approximately 50% and 35% for Wegovy® and Ozempic®, respectively.
Q1 2026 commercial discussion, announced January 2027 list-price reductions · Filed 06/05/2026
Strategic milestones
Performance highlights
Commercial execution
Financials
Cash flow and capital allocation
Outlook
R&D pipeline progress
Sustainability
Corporate Governance
Legal matters
Financial information
Company announcement No 48 / 2026
Financial report for the period 1 January 2026 to 30 June 2026
Page 13 of 37
H1 2026 DEVELOPMENT IN COSTS AND OPERATING PROFIT
H1 2026 PROFIT AND LOSS
DKK million
Reported
340B provision reversal
Major impairments
Major legal matters
Adjusted
Growth
in DKK
Growth
at CER
Net sales
175,311
(26,760)
—
—
148,551
(2
%)
2
%
Cost of goods sold
(30,698)
(30,698)
19
%
19
%
Gross profit
144,613
(26,760)
—
—
117,853
(7
%)
(2
%)
Gross margin
82.5%
79.3%
Sales and distribution costs
(27,074)
(27,074)
(17
%)
(13
%)
Percentage of sales
15.4%
18.2%
Research and development costs
(28,071)
6,328
(21,743)
(1
%)
1
%
Percentage of sales
16.0%
14.6%
Administrative costs
(2,449)
(2,449)
(3
%)
(1
%)
Percentage of sales
1.4%
1.6%
Other operating income and expenses
(340)
(340)
N/A
N/A
Operating profit (EBIT)
86,679
(26,760)
6,328
—
66,247
(5
%)
2
%
Operating margin
49.4%
44.6%
To enhance transparency and comparability of underlying operating performance, the below commentary of development in costs and operating profit excludes certain exceptional and non-recurring effects, primarily of non-cash nature, and growth rates are in CER, unless otherwise noted.
H1 2026 reported and adjusted profit reconciliation · Filed 04/08/2026
This was partly countered by productivity gains and a positive product mix from increased GLP-1 sales.
Q2 2026 gross-margin offsets from productivity and product mix · Filed 04/08/2026
The decrease is driven by savings across regions following the company-wide restructuring announced in Q3 2025 as well as quarter-to-quarter variability in spending.
Q2 2026 sales and distribution cost savings · Filed 04/08/2026
Strategic milestones
Performance highlights
Commercial execution
Financials
Cash flow and capital allocation
Outlook
R&D pipeline progress
Sustainability
Corporate Governance
Legal matters
Financial information
Company announcement No 48 / 2026
Financial report for the period 1 January 2026 to 30 June 2026
Page 23 of 37
LEGAL MATTERS
Inflation Reduction Act Litigation
On 18 May 2026, the United States Supreme Court denied Novo Nordisk’s Petition for certiorari seeking review of the Third Circuit’s decision affirming the dismissal of Novo Nordisk’s lawsuit challenging the legality of the pricing provisions of the Inflation Reduction Act.
Legal matters, Supreme Court denial of pricing-law challenge · Filed 04/08/2026
Free cash flow in the first six months of 2026 was DKK 55.3 billion compared to DKK 38.4 billion in 2025.
H1 2026 cash flow and capital allocation, free cash flow · Filed 04/08/2026
The increase in free cash flow is driven by phasing of operating expenses, timing of US rebate payments and tax payments, as well as lower capital expenditure, in line with guidance provided for full-year 2026.
H1 2026 cash-flow timing and expenditure drivers · Filed 04/08/2026
Capital expenditure for property, plant and equipment was DKK 24.0 billion compared with DKK 28.1 billion in 2025, primarily reflecting investments in additional capacity for active pharmaceutical ingredient (API) production and fill-finish capacity for both current and future injectable and oral products.
H1 2026 actual property, plant and equipment expenditure · Filed 04/08/2026
Novo Nordisk returned DKK 41.2 billion to shareholders via share buybacks (DKK 5.9 billion) and dividends (DKK 35.3 billion) in the first six months of 2026.
H1 2026 actual shareholder distributions · Filed 04/08/2026
The purchase price of the three sites totalled USD 11.7 billion, which was mainly debt-financed.
Item 4, acquisition price and debt financing · Filed 05/02/2025
Long-term share-based incentive programme
Management Board
The LTIPs commenced in 2022, 2023 and 2024 have a three-year performance
Share-based payment note, existing management LTIP programmes · Filed 05/02/2025
period, subject to continued employment, and a subsequent two-year holding
Share-based payment note, employment and holding conditions · Filed 05/02/2025
period. Targets are set at the beginning of the performance period and include determination of threshold, on-target level of performance and level of performance to achieve maximum allocation of shares.
Share-based payment note, target setting and allocation thresholds · Filed 05/02/2025
For 2024 onward, the Board sets both financial and non-financial targets for a three-year period which are linked to three-year average growth in sales, operating profit and non-financial performance.
Share-based payment note, financial and non-financial performance targets · Filed 05/02/2025
On 31 December 2025, a total of 8.8 million shares (13.3 million in 2024 and 18.9
2025 share-based payment note, expected shares vesting · Filed 04/02/2026
The Board of Directors and Executive Management are separate bodies and have no overlapping members.
Item 6, separate board and executive membership · Filed 04/02/2026
The Audit Committee The Audit Committee mainly assists the Board of Directors with the oversight of: external auditors; the internal audit function; handling complaints reported through the Compliance Hotline (the Company's whistleblower complaint system); financial and sustainability reporting (environmental, social and governance); enterprise risk management system and the operational risk profile of the Company; financial counterpart exposure; internal controls over financial and ESG reporting; business ethics compliance; information security; insurance coverage and special theme reviews.
Item 6, Audit Committee oversight responsibilities · Filed 04/02/2026
However, set forth below is information as of 3 February 2026 with respect to (a) any shareholder who is known to the Company to be the owner 22 Novo Nordisk Form 20-F 2025 ITEM 8 FINANCIAL INFORMATION of more than 5% of any class of Novo Nordisk A/S' securities and (b) the total amount of any class owned by Novo Nordisk A/S and its subsidiaries (treasury shares) and by the Board of Directors and executives as a group: Title of class Identity of person or group Shares owned Percent of class Percent of total votes A shares Novo Holdings A/S 1,074,872,000 100.00 76.02 B shares Novo Holdings A/S 177,560,500 5.24 1.26 B shares Novo Nordisk A/S and subsidiaries (treasury shares) 21,375,280 * 0.63 0.15 B shares Board of Directors and executives 1,173,813 0.03 0.01 *) Treasury shares are included, however, voting rights of treasury shares cannot be exercised.
Major shareholders, ownership and voting rights as of 3 February 2026 · Filed 04/02/2026
Under the Danish Corporate Governance Recommendations, less than half of the members of the People & Governance Committee are considered independent, as opposed to the majority as recommended.
Item 16G, People & Governance Committee independence · Filed 04/02/2026
However, the supply situation across products has improved throughout 2025 due to continued scaling of manufacturing capabilities.
Item 4, realized 2025 supply improvement · Filed 04/02/2026
Measured by new patient starts, the Wegovy® franchise remains the market leader among branded obesity medications in the US.
Q2 2026 commercial highlights, US branded obesity new-patient starts · Filed 04/08/2026
Strategic milestones
Performance highlights
Commercial execution
Financials
Cash flow and capital allocation
Outlook
R&D pipeline progress
Sustainability
Corporate Governance
Legal matters
Financial information
Company announcement No 48 / 2026
Financial report for the period 1 January 2026 to 30 June 2026
Page 3 of 37
PERFORMANCE HIGHLIGHTS
FINANCIAL HIGHLIGHTS
Q2 2026
Growth
in DKK
Growth
at CER
H1 2026
Growth
in DKK
Growth
at CER
(Amounts are in DKK million, except for earnings per share)
Net sales
78,488
2%
3
%
175,311
13%
18
%
Adjusted net sales1
78,488
6%
7
%
148,551
(2%)
2
%
Adjusted sales per therapy area
Total Obesity care
23,152
15%
16%
44,064
14%
19%
Total Diabetes care
50,429
2%
3%
95,365
(9%)
(5%)
Obesity and Diabetes care total
73,581
6%
7%
139,429
(2%)
2%
Rare disease total
4,907
2%
6%
9,122
(3%)
2%
Adjusted sales for key brands:
Wegovy® injectable
19,484
1%
1%
37,719
3%
7%
Wegovy® pill
3,218
N/A
N/A
5,474
N/A
N/A
Ozempic®
31,375
3%
5%
59,200
(6%)
(2%)
Ozempic®pill / Rybelsus®
5,228
(7%)
(4%)
9,800
(13%)
(9%)
Gross profit
61,388
(4%)
(2
%)
144,613
12%
17
%
Gross margin
78.2%
82.5%
Operating profit (EBIT)
27,061
(19%)
(16
%)
86,679
20%
27
%
Operating margin
34.5%
49.4%
Adjusted gross profit1
61,388
0%
2
%
117,853
(7%)
(2
%)
Adjusted gross margin
78.2%
79.3%
Adjusted operating profit (EBIT)1
33,389
8%
11
%
66,247
(5%)
2
%
Adjusted operating margin
175,311
13
%
18
%
Q2 AND H1 2026 ADJUSTED SALES
To enhance transparency and comparability of underlying sales performance, the sections below exclude the exceptional and non-recurring reversals of sales rebate provisions related to the US 340B Drug Pricing Program of DKK 26.8 billion in Q1 2026 and DKK 2.6 billion in Q2 2025.
H1 2026 financial highlights and exceptional 340B adjustments · Filed 04/08/2026
The trial did not meet its primary endpoint.
R&D pipeline progress, ZEUS primary endpoint · Filed 04/08/2026
The total sales of Victoza® were DKK 3,020 million in 2025 (DKK 5,482 million in 2024).
Item 4, realized Victoza sales decline · Filed 04/02/2026
Consequently, these manufacturers were licensed to launch a generic version of Victoza® as of June 22, 2024.
Item 4, licensed Victoza generic launch date · Filed 04/02/2026
