Ozempic boss axed in battle of the fat jabs
The boss of Ozempic maker Novo Nordisk lost his job yesterday after its share price plunged amid intensifying competition in the multi-billion pound fat jab market.
Lars Fruergaard Jorgensen is being forced out after the Danish firm's board came under pressure from the foundation that controls the company.
The shake-up follows Novo's leading position in the fat jab market – estimated to be worth more than £110billion by the next decade – coming under threat.
The company, best known for its Wegovy and Ozempic brands, faces stiff competition from US rival Eli Lilly, which makes Zepbound, marketed in Britain as Mounjaro.
Mounjaro has become known as the 'King Kong' of slimming jabs, leading to increasing fears that Eli Lilly will overtake Novo.
Jorgensen, 58, expressed shock at the decision to fire him, adding: 'I did not see this coming.'
Tough at the top: Lars Fruergaard Jorgensen is being forced out
His departure comes after eight years in charge that have seen Novo's sales, profit and share price almost triple as it became the world's leader in fat jabs. The company temporarily became Europe's most valuable.
It was worth around £460billion last June but the share price performance has since deteriorated sharply and it is now valued at less than half that – at about £166billion. Novo said Jorgensen was being axed due to 'recent market challenges [the firm] has been facing and the development of the company's share price since mid-2024'.
The board – led by BP chairman Helge Lund – has come under pressure from the Novo Nordisk Foundation, which controls the majority of voting rights in the company.
Jorgensen will stay on as boss 'for a period to support a smooth transition to new leadership'.
The move comes after new weekly prescriptions for Eli Lilly's Zepbound drug overtook those of Novo's Wegovy in the US, its biggest market, for the first time in March.
Earlier this month, Novo cut its 2025 sales and profit forecasts for the first time since the launch of Wegovy four years ago.
Danske Bank's Carsten Lonborg Madsen said: 'It just feels like there's something that has gone pretty wrong here.'
But analysts at JP Morgan said yesterday: 'We believe this reflects decisive action from the Novo Nordisk Foundation.'
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