Novo Nordisk oral Wegovy posts DKK 2.26B sales

Novo Nordisk’s oral Wegovy did not just beat expectations in its first reported quarter on the U.S. market. The company said on May 6 that the pill generated DKK 2.256 billion in first-quarter sales, nearly double the DKK 1.16 billion consensus estimate compiled by Reuters. The figure gave investors a hard number for a product launch that had been watched as a test of whether Novo could broaden obesity treatment beyond injections. Shares rose after the results, and market coverage on May 17 pointed to the pill’s sales as a key reason the stock had recovered from earlier lows. ### How big was the first quarter for the pill? Q1 2026 sales for Wegovy pill reached DKK 2,256 million, Novo Nordisk said in its first-quarter materials. Reuters reported that analysts had expected DKK 1.16 billion, leaving the launch well ahead of consensus in its first quarter of reported U.S. sales. The quarter was the first period to include U.S. sales of the oral obesity drug after Novo launched it broadly across America on January 5, 2026. (whbl.com) Novo said the product is the first and only oral GLP-1 for weight loss now broadly available in the United States. (ebs.publicnow.com) ### Was the revenue figure boosted by channel fill? Novo Nordisk said the DKK 2.256 billion sales figure was “impacted by pre-launch pipeline fill with wholesalers and telehealth partners.” That means part of the first-quarter revenue reflected stocking ahead of patient demand, not only prescriptions written during the quarter. (prnewswire.com) Still, prescription data in the same update showed broad uptake after launch. Novo said the pill recorded around 1.3 million prescriptions in the first three months of 2026 and more than 2 million since launch, which it described as the strongest-ever GLP-1 volume launch in the United States. ### What did executives and investors focus on? (ebs.publicnow.com) Chief Executive Mike Doustdar pointed to prescription share as a measure of traction. He told CNBC that the Wegovy brand had 65% of all new prescriptions in the U.S., and said, “The numbers with the pill speak for themselves.” Reuters reported on May 6 that the stronger-than-expected pill sales helped Novo beat first-quarter profit forecasts and lift its full-year outlook. (ebs.publicnow.com) The company said it now expects adjusted sales and adjusted operating profit to decline by 4% to 12% at constant exchange rates in 2026, compared with its earlier forecast for a 5% to 13% decline. (cnbc.com) ### How does this fit into Novo’s competition with Eli Lilly? Eli Lilly entered the oral obesity market in April with its competing pill, Foundayo, after Novo’s January launch. BioPharma Dive, citing Reuters prescription data, said Wegovy pill logged more than 18,000 prescriptions in its first full week, compared with 5,612 prescriptions for Foundayo in the third week after its April 9 introduction. (whbl.com) Alessandro Valenti, a portfolio manager at Novo shareholder Causeway Capital, told Reuters it was clear Novo had a good start with the pill, but it was too early to know whether the company could maintain its lead after Lilly’s launch. That caution matters because the first quarter captured Novo’s head start, while only a small part of the period overlapped with Lilly’s entry. (biopharmadive.com) ### Why did the stock reaction matter? Novo Nordisk shares rose 6.7% in Copenhagen morning trading on May 6 and finished that session about 2.3% higher, CNBC reported. Market summaries published on May 17 then said the stock had rebounded about 26% from its low as investors reacted to the stronger-than-expected pill revenue figure. (usnews.com) The move did not rest on pill sales alone. First-quarter group sales rose 32% on a constant-currency basis to DKK 96.8 billion, while reported operating profit rose 65%, though adjusted figures were lower after excluding a non-recurring U.S. 340B provision reversal. ### What comes next for oral Wegovy? Novo Nordisk said the first launches of Wegovy pill outside the United States are expected in the second half of 2026, pending regulatory decisions. (cnbc.com) The company also said weekly prescriptions exceeded 200,000 by the week ending April 17, giving investors another benchmark to watch in future updates. (ebs.publicnow.com)