Doustdar sets out 2026 priorities at the J.P. Morgan Healthcare Conference

Novo Nordisk CEO Maziar Mike Doustdar laid out his 2026 game plan at the J.P. Morgan Healthcare Conference in San Francisco on Jan. 13, naming three priorities: faster commercial execution through new launches and direct-to-patient (DTP) sales, continued pipeline work, and financial discipline paired with targeted investment ^[1]. Doustdar, who took over from longtime CEO Lars Fruergaard Jørgensen last summer, said obesity treatment "acts a lot more as a consumer business than a traditional medication," and that mastering that shift is high on the company's agenda ^[1].

The comments came after what Doustdar called a "difficult 2025" for Novo, which pioneered the prescription obesity market with Wegovy (semaglutide) but has since lost ground in the U.S. to rival Eli Lilly, alongside a steep drop in its share price since mid-2024 ^[1]. Novo has also had to contend with the large compounding industry that began selling GLP-1 copies during earlier Wegovy and Zepbound shortages ^[1].

To compete, Novo is leaning on direct-to-patient sales, including its own NovoCare Pharmacy and partnerships with telehealth and retail platforms such as Ro, LifeMD, Amazon, and Weight Watchers ^[1]. Doustdar pointed to the recent U.S. launch of an oral version of Wegovy, priced at $149 a month for cash-paying patients on the starter dose, as part of that push ^[1]. He also framed the addressable market as far larger than the current fight between Novo and Lilly suggests: "us and Lilly combined probably have 10 [million or] 15 million patients. What about the other 85 million? We need to get to them," he said ^[1].

On research, Doustdar said Novo will keep diabetes and obesity as its "starting point" rather than rushing into adjacent conditions like chronic kidney disease, cardiovascular disease, or MASH, even though its GLP-1 work has opened doors there ^[1]. He cited figures from a Novo presentation showing that only about 7% of the more than 550 million people worldwide with type 1 or type 2 diabetes currently receive a GLP-1 drug, a share that falls to roughly 2% among the more than 900 million people living with obesity ^[1].

Why it matters for patients

For people currently taking or considering Wegovy, Ozempic, Mounjaro, or Zepbound, Novo's shift toward direct-to-patient sales means more options for buying these drugs outside a traditional pharmacy counter, including cash-pay channels and partnerships with telehealth companies ^[1]. That could affect pricing, packaging, and how people get prescriptions filled, though the sources do not detail specific changes to insurance coverage or list prices tied to this strategy.

The emphasis on reaching the "other 85 million" patients also signals that both Novo and Lilly see most of the potential U.S. and global market as still untreated, which could shape future marketing, telehealth outreach, and drug availability ^[1]. Broader industry watchers see a large market ahead too; Pfizer's CEO has estimated the global weight-loss drug market could reach $150 billion by 2030 ^[2].

What happens next

Novo's oral Wegovy pill, approved in December 2025, is already on the market as of this conference ^[2]. Lilly's own oral pill, orforglipron (brand name Foundayo), a small-molecule medicine distinct from Novo's peptide pill, won FDA approval in April 2026, giving patients a second oral option ^[2]. Separately, industry coverage of the same conference noted that ongoing turmoil at the FDA since early 2025 has left some experts skeptical about how smoothly new GLP-1 approvals and market growth will proceed ^[2].