Novo Nordisk is targeting more than DKK 150 billion, or approximately $23 billion, in annual sales from pipeline medicines by 2035 as the pharmaceutical company lays out an aggressive plan to launch multiple new blockbuster drugs and diversify beyond its dominant obesity and diabetes franchises, according to The Wall Street Journal.
At its 2026 Capital Markets Day in London, the Wegovy and Ozempic maker said it intends to launch more than five new “multiblockbuster” medicines by 2030 while substantially expanding its late-stage development pipeline.
Novo is aiming to have at least five Phase 3 programs in obesity and diabetes and at least five additional Phase 3 programs across other therapeutic areas by 2030. The targets include both existing and new programs entering or completing Phase 3 development.
The strategy represents an important expansion beyond the company’s traditional concentration in diabetes and obesity.
CEO Mike Doustdar said Novo intends to continue strengthening its diabetes business and expanding its obesity pipeline while building larger positions in blood and endocrine disorders, liver disease and cardiovascular medicine.
The company is targeting more than DKK 150 billion in risk-adjusted pipeline sales by 2035. For perspective, Novo Nordisk generated DKK 309.06 billion in total revenue during 2025, meaning the company’s pipeline ambition alone represents a substantial potential new revenue base.
Novo’s longer-term ambitions also call for 2026 through 2030 revenue growth roughly in line with pharmaceutical industry peers, a broadly stable operating margin and an attractive dividend per share.
The company also intends to dramatically expand the number of patients receiving its medicines.
Novo wants to serve more than 60 million patients globally by 2030 and build enough manufacturing capacity to serve 10 times more people with oral GLP-1 obesity treatments.
That oral strategy has become particularly important as competition in the global weight-loss market intensifies.
Novo helped establish the modern obesity-drug market through Wegovy and has built one of the world’s largest diabetes franchises around Ozempic and other products. But Eli Lilly has gained significant momentum with Mounjaro and Zepbound, challenging Novo’s position in injectable GLP-1 medicines.
Novo’s recently launched Wegovy pill could give the company another important growth avenue.
The oral version was launched in the U.S. in January 2026 and surpassed 200,000 weekly prescriptions by the week ending April 17. Novo reported approximately 1.3 million Wegovy pill prescriptions during the first quarter and more than 2 million prescriptions since launch at that point, describing it as the strongest GLP-1 volume launch in the U.S.
The company believes oral medicines could substantially broaden the obesity market by providing an alternative for patients who prefer tablets over injections.
Novo’s Capital Markets Day strategy therefore combines defending its established semaglutide franchise with developing new obesity medicines, expanding oral treatments and building franchises in additional therapeutic categories.
The company is also preparing for the gradual loss of exclusivity surrounding semaglutide, the active ingredient in Ozempic and Wegovy.
Semaglutide has already lost exclusivity in Canada, India, Brazil and Turkey in 2026, potentially opening those markets to lower-cost competitors. Patent protection in the U.S. and Europe extends into the early 2030s.
Novo expects to continue competing for semaglutide volume even in countries where exclusivity has ended.
The company is simultaneously investing in next-generation obesity candidates.
On the same day as its Capital Markets Day, Novo reported new Phase 3 data for CagriSema, a once-weekly combination of cagrilintide and semaglutide.
In the REIMAGINE 5 trial involving adults with type 2 diabetes, CagriSema 1.0 mg/1.0 mg achieved 12.4% weight loss compared with 9.1% for tirzepatide 5 mg. In the REDEFINE 9 study involving adults with overweight or obesity, CagriSema produced 21% weight loss compared with placebo at week 68.
Those results underscore Novo’s effort to move beyond first-generation semaglutide products with combination and next-generation therapies capable of competing in an increasingly crowded obesity market.
At the same time, Novo has encountered pipeline setbacks.
The Wall Street Journal noted that an experimental cardiovascular medicine failed to deliver the anticipated reduction in heart attacks or strokes, while earlier CagriSema data disappointed some analysts when its glucose-lowering performance was compared with Lilly’s tirzepatide.
Doustdar, who became CEO in 2025, has responded with a broader restructuring and portfolio overhaul.
Since taking the role, he has overseen acquisitions, leadership changes and plans to eliminate approximately 9,000 positions. He has also indicated that Novo will continue looking for external technologies and drug assets that complement its existing portfolio, while avoiding large transformational acquisitions.
The company recently introduced “Novo” as its simplified public-facing brand while retaining Novo Nordisk as its legal corporate name. The rebranding accompanies a broader effort to increase the organization’s speed and focus while strengthening its position as healthcare becomes more consumer-oriented.
Artificial intelligence is also becoming a larger component of the company’s drug-development strategy.
Novo recently announced a collaboration with Anthropic to use Claude and Claude Science for scientific reasoning, drug discovery and agentic software engineering. The company has said the initiative supports its ambition to become a highly AI-driven healthcare organization.
The combination of internal R&D, external acquisitions, AI-assisted drug discovery and expansion into additional therapeutic markets is designed to create multiple growth engines beyond the current Wegovy and Ozempic franchise.
Novo’s new targets put a measurable figure on that transition: more than $23 billion in pipeline-derived sales by 2035, supported by at least five new multiblockbuster medicines and a significantly broader late-stage development portfolio.
