In the small Danish town of Kalundborg, Novo Nordisk manufactures half of the world's insulin and the diabetes medicine Ozempic, which has proven to be a miracle cure for obesity.
Celebrities in Hollywood, such as Robbie Williams, have enthusiastically endorsed the "weight loss cure" and researchers have pointed out the treatment as a solution to a growing global health problem where over a billion people suffer from severe obesity.
The demand is so great that Novo Nordisk has taken the place as Europe's highest valued company.
I'm very optimistic about the market for obesity medicines. Right now, Novo is one of two big players. The question is what will happen after 2028 when more players are expected to establish themselves on the market, says Morten Larsen.
After the stock crash, when the price fell by over 20 percent due to a phase 3 study of the company's new preparation Cagrisema, investors have lowered their expectations significantly.
"Going extremely fast"
But in Kalundborg – where every fourth inhabitant works for the pharmaceutical giant – nothing indicates that the success story is over. According to the municipality's mayor, Novo Nordisk is expanding its factory area for approximately 65 billion kronor.
It's going extremely fast, says Martin Damm, who personally is not worried about the company that has given the municipality growth pains.
The grocery store Meny – which has already quintupled its turnover in ten years – is expanding its premises further, and a stone's throw away, construction workers are working full speed to complete hundreds of new homes. They buy so much hot dogs at Biltema that the sales statistics have been rewritten in The New York Times.
When I started as mayor ten years ago, we had the same problems as all other small municipalities. It was hard to rent out premises, and we had high unemployment. Now we have rather the problem of keeping up, says Martin Damm.
The stock market collapse in December has not scared off private property investors either, says local real estate agent Noa Pedersen.
Copenhageners have started investing in properties that they rent out. Those who have invested money in stocks are probably a little nervous, but none of my friends at Novo are afraid of losing their jobs.
Concern when patents expire
Analyst Morten Larsen doesn't think they need to be either, at least not in the coming years. The study presented in December showed no bad results, but they were below the expectations that Novo Nordisk itself had contributed to blowing up.
The big challenge comes when there is greater competition at the same time as the patents for semaglutide, the active ingredient in Ozempic, expire in the US in six years, he says.
The Danish pharmaceutical company Novo Nordisk is Europe's highest valued company, ahead of the French luxury giant LVMH, with a market capitalization of approximately 400 billion dollars.
The company has more than 69,000 employees worldwide, of which around 30,000 are in Denmark.
In December 2025, the stock price fell by over 20 percent due to a worse-than-expected result for the company's new preparation Cagrisema.
It is the medicines Ozempic and Wegovy that are behind the company's success.
Both contain semaglutide, a substance that reduces appetite by increasing the feeling of fullness, which in turn leads to weight loss previously only achieved through surgery.
Ozempic is administered through an injection once a week and is approved for treating type 2 diabetes.
Wegovy is also administered through an injection and is approved for treating patients with severe obesity.
Novo Nordisk is also developing Amycretin, which is a pill for weight loss.
Sources: Novo Nordisk, Politiken, Ritzau, Medical Products Agency
