Novo Nordisk CEO Mike Doustdar Talks Drug Sales

Summary

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Bloomberg Talks

Novo Nordisk CEO Mike Doustdar Talks Drug Sales

Date: November 5, 2025
Host: Bloomberg
Guest: Mike Doustdar (CEO, Novo Nordisk)

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Episode Overview

This episode centers on the leadership transition at Novo Nordisk and the company's strategic direction amid increased competition and shifting pharmaceutical markets, particularly around obesity and diabetes treatments. CEO Mike Doustdar discusses quarterly results, competition with Eli Lilly, the acquisition of Matsera, access to obesity medication, regulatory and pricing negotiations, and the impact of compounders on the business. The conversation offers insight into how Novo Nordisk is responding to challenges and opportunities in the rapidly evolving pharmaceutical landscape.

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Key Discussion Points and Insights

1. Novo Nordisk’s Financial Performance and Market Sentiment

• Quarterly Results: Novo Nordisk is experiencing slowing quarterly growth, projecting that Q4 will be a financial low point.
  • Quote:
    “If you project our numbers for the full year, actually you see that quarter four should be in negative territory so that you see mathematics at the low point.”
    — Mike Doustdar (01:04)
• Market View: Despite challenges, share prices are up, possibly signaling investor confidence that the worst is behind.
• Perspective on Adversity:
  “We are in a business of marathons and not sprints.”
  — Mike Doustdar (01:37)

2. Strategic Direction and Competitive Landscape

• Leadership & M&A Moves: Doustdar has been CEO for just 91 days, already addressing cost cuts and a major M&A deal.
• Competition with Eli Lilly: Asked directly about matching Eli Lilly’s performance, Doustdar stresses patient focus rather than competitive obsession.
  • Quote:
    “My job is to put the patient in the center of what I do, and not necessarily just my competitor.”
    — Mike Doustdar (02:51)

3. Matsera Acquisition: Why Buy?

• Strategic Fit: Matsera’s pipeline complements Novo’s and is necessary as treatments become more complex and individualized.
  • Quote:
    “When the ambition is in billions and not millions, you need basically all the great assets to get great assets, but complementary.”
    — Mike Doustdar (03:15)
• Patient-Centric Rationale: Disease variability and patient preference require a diverse product portfolio (e.g., oral vs. injectables, weekly vs. monthly dosing).
  • Quote:
    “Obesity and diabetes is not a single disease. It's an individual disease. You basically have different preferences.”
    — Mike Doustdar (03:38)
• Market Concerns: Acquisition not a signal of lack of confidence in current products, but an effort to widen the offering.

4. Acquisition Bidding Dynamics

• Competing with Pfizer: Doustdar plays down rivalry, focusing on whether they’re getting value at the right price.
• On Overpaying: Due diligence has been done, confident Matsera is worth the proposed price.
  • Quote:
    “We know this company very well. We have seen this company for a long time and we like what we have seen.”
    — Mike Doustdar (05:19)

5. U.S. Pricing Negotiations and Regulatory Issues

• White House Discussions: Negotiations are ongoing with the Trump administration to improve patient access and affordability.
  • Quote:
    “We both would like to provide access to many more patients out there, affordable access.”
    — Mike Doustdar (05:49)
• Impact of Compounders: Concern about unapproved compounders entering the market; Novo Nordisk is lobbying for regulatory clarity.
  • Quote:
    “Taking an API, the raw ingredient of a medication that has not been approved by FDA, and injecting that into human beings is something very far from what we have been educated in this industry. So we will continue to lobby to...this is simply not right.”
    — Mike Doustdar (06:36)

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• “We are in a business of marathons and not sprints.” (01:37, Mike Doustdar)
• “Obesity and diabetes is not a single disease. It's an individual disease.” (03:38, Mike Doustdar)
• On pricing strategy and Pfizer rivalry:
  “My focus is on Novo Nordisk. The way I see this is there's a company for sale. There's a buyer and a seller. And basically one of the buyers doesn't like the price and the other one does.” (04:39, Mike Doustdar)
• On compounding pharmacies:
  “Taking an API, the raw ingredient of a medication that has not been approved by FDA, and injecting that into human beings is something very far from what we have been educated in this industry.” (06:36, Mike Doustdar)

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Timeline of Important Segments

• 00:29 – 01:04: Q3 earnings, current headwinds, analyst outlook
• 01:44 – 02:43: Strategy under Doustdar, competition in obesity market
• 02:43 – 03:13: Comparison with Eli Lilly; prioritizing patients over rivals
• 03:13 – 04:21: Details on Matsera acquisition, expanding treatment options
• 04:33 – 05:28: Acquisition bidding, rationale, and pricing discipline
• 05:39 – 06:29: U.S. White House pricing discussion, affordable access
• 06:29 – 06:59: Compounding concerns, regulatory advocacy

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Tone and Takeaways

Doustdar projects a calm, pragmatic confidence, focusing on the long-term, patient-centric mission of Novo Nordisk, while also signaling readiness for vigorous competition and dynamic strategic moves. He is open about the industry’s challenges and transparent about growth strategy, M&A rationale, and regulatory hurdles—emphasizing diligence, discipline, and adaptability as Novo Nordisk faces a new chapter.

For listeners: This episode offers an inside look at how one of the world’s leading pharma CEOs is steering his company through post-boom turbulence, strategic acquisitions, and high-stakes negotiations to maintain leadership in a fast-changing industry.

Transcript

[Narrator/Advertiser]

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[Mike Døssing (CEO of Novo Nordisk)]

Bloomberg Audio Studios Podcasts Radio.

[Interviewer/Journalist]

News It is one of the big stories of the morning. What is happening with Novo is fascinating, as you say. Company coming out this morning, cutting revenue missing on a number of metrics. But look at the share price last time I checked and it was just up on the screen just a moment ago. Up by what? One one and a bit percent. Does that signal maybe that the market believes that this courser, this Q3 is the bottom? Let's ask Mike do star. He is the CEO of this business now. Great to see you, Mike. Thanks for spending some time with us this morning. Is that the right interpretation? Is this, is this the kind of the bottom is. Is the glass half full from here? After being half empty for so long, do things get better from here?

[Mike Døssing (CEO of Novo Nordisk)]

What I can tell you is that the first nine months of the year, 15% profit sales growth and 10% profit growth is not so bad at all compared to our peers. But I think when you look at it quarter by quarter, there has been a headwind and bringing the quarterly growth rates lower. If you project our numbers for the full year, actually you see that quarter four should be in negative territory so that you see mathematics at the low point.

[Interviewer/Journalist]

The low point is still to come. But things get better from there.

[Mike Døssing (CEO of Novo Nordisk)]

There's for sure a headwind against us.

[Interviewer/Journalist]

Yeah.

[Mike Døssing (CEO of Novo Nordisk)]

Having said this, we are in a business of marathons and not sprints.

[Interviewer/Journalist]

Okay?

[Mike Døssing (CEO of Novo Nordisk)]

So there's is huge amount of unmet need with many patients still not on our medications or not on any medications. And I look incredibly forward, of course, as we go forward taking over this new job, making sure that we expand the market and get to those people.

[Interviewer/Journalist]

You've been in the job for 91 days. You haven't let the grass grow under your feet. You're already talking about cost cuts. We'll talk about in a minute. You've launched a big M and A deal. Is this the new Novo? Is this a more dynamic, aggressive Novo Nordisk? Under your tenure, the success we have.

[Mike Døssing (CEO of Novo Nordisk)]

Had with obesity has meant that a lot of companies, pretty much all pharma companies out there, has gotten excited about what we do. So that is good from a patient's perspective. More players will come in shareholder perspective. But at the Same time, we have to make sure we can outperform the competition from a shareholder perspective. So my job is to really make sure that we are ready for the headwind that we clearly are seeing coming towards us.

[Interviewer/Journalist]

When are you going to match Eli Lilly in terms of performance? They had results a few days ago. They were knockout. When are you going to be able to match that kind of performance? You talk about a kind of performance culture here.

[Mike Døssing (CEO of Novo Nordisk)]

Again, my job is to put the patient in the center of what I do, and not necessarily just my competitor. We watch them, we take all of our competitors seriously. But there are hundreds of millions of people out there that are suffering from diabetes and obesity that no one is right now addressing. My job is to sustainably lead ourselves towards that aim.

[Interviewer/Journalist]

How does Matsera help you do that?

[Mike Døssing (CEO of Novo Nordisk)]

Matsera has some of the best complementary assets to our own phenomenal pipeline. So when the ambition is in billions and not millions, you need basically all the great assets to get great assets, but complementary.

[Interviewer/Journalist]

So, okay, so why do you need complementary assets? Because you've got. You've got all these products. Why do you need to go and buy this business?

[Mike Døssing (CEO of Novo Nordisk)]

Because obesity and diabetes is not a single disease. It's an individual disease. You basically have different preferences. Take a look at the great wegovy pill we are about to launch in us. Well, that's for people that don't like injection, so they would like to lose weight, but they don't have a viable.

[Interviewer/Journalist]

Offering from us or the competitors very similar products. And the question that I listen to a lot of analysts talk to a lot of analysts, and the question they keep coming up with is, does this seem to signal maybe that you don't believe in the current Novo portfolio?

[Mike Døssing (CEO of Novo Nordisk)]

Absolutely not. Absolutely not. We are in a situation where every single patient has a different preference. And we need to have the profit product offering that matches that.

[Interviewer/Journalist]

They got a monthly, you got a weekly. Is that that really the big difference?

[Mike Døssing (CEO of Novo Nordisk)]

Well, we saw that the weekly was a big difference to the daily one.

[Interviewer/Journalist]

So I would say for monthly does make a difference.

[Mike Døssing (CEO of Novo Nordisk)]

For some, probably yes. For some, probably yes. Others will prefer to have a weekly product.

[Interviewer/Journalist]

Is it more important the Pfizer doesn't buy it, the Novo does. Buyers. Because that's another thing I hear as well as I.

[Mike Døssing (CEO of Novo Nordisk)]

My focus is on Novo Nordisk. I. You know, the way I see this is there's a company for sale. There's a buyer and a seller.

[Interviewer/Journalist]

Yeah.

[Mike Døssing (CEO of Novo Nordisk)]

And basically one of the buyers doesn't like the price and the other one does.

[Interviewer/Journalist]

Okay.

[Mike Døssing (CEO of Novo Nordisk)]

My job is to make sure I look at what we did and we would very much benefit from Matsura's assets. And we put the right price up there for our.

[Interviewer/Journalist]

What's the right price? Could you go higher?

[Mike Døssing (CEO of Novo Nordisk)]

The current price in the market has been, you know, addressed by shareholders, and then we'll see where this goes.

[Interviewer/Journalist]

Do you think Pfizer comes back?

[Mike Døssing (CEO of Novo Nordisk)]

I have no idea.

[Interviewer/Journalist]

You have no idea? But if they do, will you go higher?

[Mike Døssing (CEO of Novo Nordisk)]

How important is this going to make announcements today on how I'm going to treat that?

[Interviewer/Journalist]

How do you make sure you don't overpay for this asset?

[Mike Døssing (CEO of Novo Nordisk)]

By having actually looked very deeply into the data. As I mentioned, we know this company very well. We have seen this company for a long time and we like what we have seen.

[Interviewer/Journalist]

Okay. You're going to London, I think, tomorrow, right?

[Mike Døssing (CEO of Novo Nordisk)]

Possibly.

[Interviewer/Journalist]

Okay. Are you going to the States after that?

[Mike Døssing (CEO of Novo Nordisk)]

I'm looking at the whole world, so I'm going to go everywhere.

[Interviewer/Journalist]

So the rumor is that basically you're going to be in the White House on Thursday and you're going to tell me that the deal is not done with the Trump administration on pricing. And I'm going to ask you, how close are you, therefore, to a deal?

[Mike Døssing (CEO of Novo Nordisk)]

I'm going to say that we are very much aligned with the purpose of the negotiations and the discussions we're having with the administration. We both would like to provide access to many more patients out there, affordable access.

[Interviewer/Journalist]

Are you close?

[Mike Døssing (CEO of Novo Nordisk)]

So we are discussing very closely.

[Interviewer/Journalist]

Okay. Okay. Closely. One of the parts of the discussion, I'm assuming, has to be about what is happening with copycats, about the. The companies that are producing drugs that were allowed when there were shortages, but now are using loopholes to maybe continue to produce products. And I'm wondering whether or not a deal with the White House would include maybe closing some of those loopholes. What are the compounders doing in terms of your business?

[Mike Døssing (CEO of Novo Nordisk)]

What I can tell you is that we have not been. We have been quite surprised on how the compounding has gotten started.

[Interviewer/Journalist]

Right.

[Mike Døssing (CEO of Novo Nordisk)]

Taking an API, the raw ingredient of a medication that has not been approved by fda.

[Interviewer/Journalist]

Yep.

[Mike Døssing (CEO of Novo Nordisk)]

And injecting that into human beings is something very far from what we have been educated in this industry. So we will continue to lobby to. For the deal with the White House. Have you that this is simply not right.

[Interviewer/Journalist]

Yeah. Just. Just.

[Mike Døssing (CEO of Novo Nordisk)]

I will not get into the details of the deal as you could imagine.

[Interviewer/Journalist]

We will wait and see what the deal looks like later this week. Mike, great to see you. Thank you very much for stopping by. To see us. We really appreciate it, and thank you for inviting us to the headquarters. We really appreciate that as well. Mike Dewstar, the CEO of Novo Nordisk.

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