Novo Nordisk CEO sets 2026 priorities and calls obesity a consumer business

Novo Nordisk CEO Maziar Mike Doustdar used his appearance at the J.P. Morgan Healthcare Conference in San Francisco on Jan. 13 to set out three priorities for 2026: accelerating commercial execution with new launches and expanded direct-to-patient sales, progressing the pipeline, and balancing financial discipline while "investing where the investments are needed" ^[1].

Doustdar, who replaced longtime CEO Lars Fruergaard Jørgensen last summer, said the weight-loss market behaves differently from other prescription categories. "We have seen that, especially within the field of obesity, this acts a lot more as a consumer business than a traditional medication," he said, adding that "mastering that is something high on our agenda" ^[1].

The comments follow a difficult 2025. Novo was first to market a prescription obesity drug with Wegovy (semaglutide), after Saxenda, but has since lost its U.S. lead to Eli Lilly and seen a steep share-price decline starting in mid-2024 ^[1]. Doustdar also pointed to U.S. compounding pharmacies that began selling GLP-1s at scale during earlier Wegovy and Zepbound shortages ^[1]. He described the past year as the "curse of a leader" and said 2025 forced Novo to accept that "we're no longer on our own, and we need to hurry up" ^[1].

Direct-to-patient channels are central to the plan. Doustdar pointed to Novo's own NovoCare Pharmacy and to partnerships with Ro, LifeMD, Amazon and Weight Watchers ^[1]. He acknowledged that telehealth providers and compounding pharmacies grew because of a real access gap ^[1]. Novo's once-daily Wegovy pill launched in the week before the conference, with a starter dose priced at $149 a month for cash-paying patients ^[1]. The FDA approved the pill on Dec. 23, 2025 ^[2].

Doustdar argued the market is far from saturated. He said Novo and Eli Lilly combined "probably have 10 [million or] 15 million patients," and asked about "the other 85 million" ^[1]. A presentation Novo prepared for the conference said just 7% of the more than 550 million people with Type 1 or Type 2 diabetes worldwide receive a GLP-1, falling to roughly 2% of the more than 900 million people living with obesity ^[1]. At the same conference, Pfizer CEO Albert Bourla estimated a $150 billion weight-loss market by 2030 ^[2].

On research, Doustdar said Novo will treat diabetes and obesity as a "starting point" for work in chronic kidney disease, cardiovascular disease and metabolic dysfunction-associated steatohepatitis, rather than rushing into new indications. The shift is about "taking the company back to the DNA we have," he said ^[1].

Why it matters for patients

Novo's plan leans on selling GLP-1s more like consumer products, through cash-pay and direct-to-patient channels, rather than mainly through insurance ^[1]. For patients, that can mean more ways to buy the drugs, including the $149-a-month starter dose of the oral Wegovy pill ^[1]. It also means a larger share of the cost may fall on the patient, since cash prices are paid out of pocket. Whether the direct-to-patient expansion changes insurance coverage or list prices has not been disclosed ^[1].

Doustdar's remarks also make clear that switching between competing products is being watched closely. "Right now, we are being judged," he said, referring to how many patients move between Novo and Eli Lilly ^[1]. A second oral option matters for people who prefer a pill to an injection; the Wegovy pill is a once-daily oral form of semaglutide ^[1][2].

Overall spending on the category is expected to keep growing. Bourla's $150 billion estimate for 2030 was given at the same conference ^[2]. At the same time, the sources note that changes at the FDA since early 2025 have given some experts reason for skepticism about the pace of the market ^[2].

What happens next

Novo's Wegovy pill launched in the week before the Jan. 13 conference, with a $149 monthly cash price for the starter dose ^[1]. The FDA had approved it on Dec. 23, 2025 ^[2]. Novo did not disclose dated milestones for the rest of its 2026 priorities — commercial execution, direct-to-patient expansion and pipeline progression — beyond those already-announced items ^[1].