Latest news with #JacobGronholt-Pedersen
The Star
3 days ago
- General
- The Star
Fire breaks out onboard Maersk container vessel off Liberian coast
COPENHAGEN (Reuters) -A fire broke out onboard the Maersk Marie container vessel off the coast of Liberia on Wednesday, a spokesperson for Danish shipping group Maersk said on Thursday. (Reporting by Jacob Gronholt-Pedersen, writing by Essi Lehto, editing by Terje Solsvik)
Yahoo
01-08-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Novo Nordisk shares dip further as Wegovy gains nearly erased
By Jacob Gronholt-Pedersen (Reuters) -Shares in Novo Nordisk fell as much as 6% on Friday before recovering some ground later in the session, extending recent losses that threaten to wipe out all the gains since the drugmaker launched its blockbuster weight-loss treatment Wegovy four years ago. The fall on Friday means the Danish firm has dropped out of the top 10 constituents of the Europe-wide STOXX 600 index. Share price declines across the sector were prompted by U.S. President Donald Trump, who sent letters on Thursday to 17 major pharmaceutical firms, including Novo Nordisk, telling them to cut drug prices in the United States. Novo Nordisk on Tuesday slashed its forecast for 2025 sales growth due to competition from compounded, or copycat, versions of Wegovy and appointed veteran insider Maziar Mike Doustdar as its new CEO, prompting its shares to fall 23% on the day. Novo became Europe's most valuable listed firm after launching Wegovy in June 2021, worth some $650 billion in the middle of last year. But its shares have lost more than two-thirds since on concerns the drugmaker is losing ground in the obesity drug race. Its market cap is now $214.5 billion. "The U.S. healthcare system is complex, but Novo Nordisk will continue to work to find solutions that help people access the medicines they need at affordable prices," Novo said in an emailed statement. Novo's shares were around 2% lower at 1453 GMT, bringing this week's losses to around 30% - the stock's worst week ever. The European healthcare index was down around 1% to its lowest since April. "Trump doesn't have the mandate to tell Novo Nordisk how to price their products in the U.S., but investors are just panicking about the risk of another downgrade," said Nordnet analyst Per Hansen. The pressure to lower prices adds to Novo's problems in the United States, its biggest market. It faces competition from Eli Lilly and from compounders - custom-made medicines that are based on the same ingredients as branded drugs. "This is a repricing of the obesity market, it's a repricing of the United States as the world's most attractive drug market, and it's a repricing of the risk from Donald Trump," Hansen said. Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data
Yahoo
30-07-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Wegovy maker Novo's profit warning triggers $70 billion share rout
By Jacob Gronholt-Pedersen, Stine Jacobsen and Maggie Fick COPENHAGEN (Reuters) -Investors wiped $70 billion off Novo Nordisk's market value on Tuesday after the maker of weight-loss drug Wegovy issued a profit warning and named a new CEO, as it battles rising competition in the obesity drug market. Novo named Maziar Mike Doustdar as its new chief executive, turning to a veteran insider to revive sales and reassure investors rattled by fears the Danish drugmaker is losing ground in the obesity drug race it started. Doustdar's appointment failed to stem a stock market rout sparked by Novo slashing its outlook for 2025 sales growth to between 8% and 14%, from between 13% and 21% previously. Its shares plunged nearly 30% before paring some losses to trade down over 20% by mid-afternoon. The shares are now down 44% this year. "The magnitude of the guidance cut is a shocker," Markus Manns, a portfolio manager at mutual fund firm Union Investment, a Novo shareholder, told Reuters, adding that Novo's issues went deeper than "compounded" copycats to Wegovy. Compounded drugs are custom-made medicines that are based on the same ingredients as branded drugs. Novo has been hit by copycats of its GLP-1 drugs Wegovy for weight-loss and Ozempic for diabetes. U.S. law bars pharmacies from replicating approved drugs, but has allowed 'compounding' for patients needing custom doses or formulations. The company said in a statement that it cut its 2025 sales outlook due to lower growth expectations in the second half in the U.S., both for Wegovy and Ozempic in the GLP-1 diabetes market. The drugmaker, which became Europe's most valuable listed company following the launch of Wegovy in 2021, is now facing a reckoning as it looks to turn things around after the abrupt removal in May of CEO Lars Fruergaard Jorgensen. At its peak in June 2024, Novo was worth as much as $615 billion, but its shares have plunged on investor concerns about the company's experimental drug pipeline and its ability to navigate challenges in the U.S. market. "The stock has gone from being a market darling to one of its biggest letdowns," said Angelo Meda, portfolio manager and head of equities at Banor SIM in Milan, which has a small Novo stake. "The biggest concern is the illegal channel siphoning away market share - something that's hard to quantify. Rebuilding trust will take time." NEW CEO AN INSIDER Doustdar, an Iranian-born, Austrian national, who grew up in the United States, joined Novo in 1992 and will take on the new role on August 7. He currently serves as vice president for international operations, a role he took after leading the company's businesses first in the Middle East and then in Southeast Asia, Novo said. "We need to increase the sense of urgency and execute differently," Doustdar told investors and analysts on a call. "The fact that my announcement comes right after the guidance update, just makes the mandate ahead even more clear." Some analysts and investors had argued that Novo should select an American, or a person with extensive experience working in the United States as its next CEO. Novo has lost its first-mover advantage in the United States this year to U.S. rival Eli Lilly. The new chief executive's most urgent challenge, according to investors and analysts, is to revive Novo's performance in the United States, the largest market by far for weight-loss drugs and where they are most profitable. Novo launched its weight-loss drug Wegovy nearly two and a half years before Eli Lilly's Zepbound. But Zepbound prescriptions surpassed those of Wegovy this year by more than 100,000 a week. In May, Novo said it expected many of the roughly one million U.S. patients using compounded GLP-1 drugs to switch to branded treatments after a U.S. Food and Drug Administration ban on compounded copies of Wegovy took effect on May 22. "Unfortunately, our latest market research indicates that has not happened," Chief Financial Officer Karsten Munk Knudsen said on a call with analysts on Tuesday. One million or more U.S. patients are still using compounded GLP-1s, he said. Novo has stepped up its dialogue with the U.S. FDA to limit unlawful compounding of its drugs, the head of U.S. operations David Moore added on the call. "Compounding continues to be an issue that we have to address," Moore said. ($1 = 0.8672 euros) Sign in to access your portfolio
Yahoo
21-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Greenland gives Danish-French group permit to mine rock with green potential, in wake of Trump interest
By Jacob Gronholt-Pedersen COPENHAGEN (Reuters) - Greenland on Wednesday handed a 30-year mining permit to a Danish-French mining group aiming to extract a moon-like rock that could offer a climate-friendly alternative in aluminium production. The Arctic island rich in minerals, oil and natural gas, and long seen as a potential resource frontier, has drawn international attention since U.S. President Donald Trump expressed an interest in purchasing it earlier this year. The permit was granted to Greenland Anorthosite Mining (GAM), which is developing a site in western Greenland. The company is backed by French investment firm the Jean Boulle Group and state investment funds in both Greenland and Denmark. Anorthosite - a white rock composed mainly of aluminum, micro silica, and calcium - is similar to the material brought back by NASA's Apollo missions. GAM plans to ship crushed anorthosite to the fibreglass industry, where it could replace kaolin as a more sustainable input. The broader ambition is to use it as an alternative to bauxite in aluminium production, a key material in reducing emissions due to its recyclability and use in lightweight vehicles. "My hope is that the mine will be operational in five years," Greenland's Mineral Resources Minister Naaja Nathanielsen told Reuters. Despite the geopolitical spotlight, Nathanielsen said the U.S.' interest in Greenland had not yet translated into tangible investment. "Right now, all the fuss has not resulted in increased appetite for investment directly in Greenland," she said, referring to Trump's proposal to buy the island. "We have welcomed a number of investors, but we have not yet seen any concrete example of American funds being injected into Greenland's business community," she said. Private U.S. business delegations have visited the island since the beginning of the year, but formal dialogue with the new U.S. administration has yet to begin, she said. However, dialogue with European partners was progressing: "There is no doubt that the dialogue with both the EU and Denmark is going smoother. This is not only the result of the noise made by the U.S. administration, but also the result of several years of intensified cooperation," Nathanielsen said. Nathanielsen was reappointed in April after a more pro-business government came to power. The island's mining sector has developed slowly, hindered by limited investor interest, bureaucratic challenges and environmental concerns. Currently, only two small mines are in operation.
Yahoo
21-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Greenland gives Danish-French group permit to mine rock with green potential, in wake of Trump interest
By Jacob Gronholt-Pedersen COPENHAGEN (Reuters) - Greenland on Wednesday handed a 30-year mining permit to a Danish-French mining group aiming to extract a moon-like rock that could offer a climate-friendly alternative in aluminium production. The Arctic island rich in minerals, oil and natural gas, and long seen as a potential resource frontier, has drawn international attention since U.S. President Donald Trump expressed an interest in purchasing it earlier this year. The permit was granted to Greenland Anorthosite Mining (GAM), which is developing a site in western Greenland. The company is backed by French investment firm the Jean Boulle Group and state investment funds in both Greenland and Denmark. Anorthosite - a white rock composed mainly of aluminum, micro silica, and calcium - is similar to the material brought back by NASA's Apollo missions. GAM plans to ship crushed anorthosite to the fibreglass industry, where it could replace kaolin as a more sustainable input. The broader ambition is to use it as an alternative to bauxite in aluminium production, a key material in reducing emissions due to its recyclability and use in lightweight vehicles. "My hope is that the mine will be operational in five years," Greenland's Mineral Resources Minister Naaja Nathanielsen told Reuters. Despite the geopolitical spotlight, Nathanielsen said the U.S.' interest in Greenland had not yet translated into tangible investment. "Right now, all the fuss has not resulted in increased appetite for investment directly in Greenland," she said, referring to Trump's proposal to buy the island. "We have welcomed a number of investors, but we have not yet seen any concrete example of American funds being injected into Greenland's business community," she said. Private U.S. business delegations have visited the island since the beginning of the year, but formal dialogue with the new U.S. administration has yet to begin, she said. However, dialogue with European partners was progressing: "There is no doubt that the dialogue with both the EU and Denmark is going smoother. This is not only the result of the noise made by the U.S. administration, but also the result of several years of intensified cooperation," Nathanielsen said. Nathanielsen was reappointed in April after a more pro-business government came to power. The island's mining sector has developed slowly, hindered by limited investor interest, bureaucratic challenges and environmental concerns. Currently, only two small mines are in operation. Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data
