Novo Nordisk

“In 2021, U.S. Officials alleged that Novo Nordisk increased prices more than 600% between 2001 and 2019 in lockstep with competitors to the detriment of diabetics.”

“The operating company is now publicly traded, but still, that foundation controls 77% of the voting shares of Novo Nordisk and 28% of the economic shares.”

“Management comes in, they present in two board meetings, first in August, 2004, and then the second one in September where they get a do over and they fail to convince the foundation board. So they block the merger.”

“Novo Nordisk has become Europe's largest company, surpassing even LVMH last year”

“Revenue goes from twenty billion in 2019 to 25 in 2021, Thirty billion in twenty-twenty-two, and in twenty-twenty-three, so far, and the first three quarters that they've reported, it is up another 30% year on year.”

“Gross margins are better than software. They run about 84%. Lilly is also a very high margin company, running about 80%. For context, Microsoft has a gross margin of 70% and Google is 56%.”

“By the way, this is not that uncommon in Danish companies. Lego, same structure. Maersk, the shipping company, same structure.”

“So the new combined company has roughly a billion dollars in insulin revenue and 50%, five zero percent global market share with Eli Lilly just behind at 45% and host at five percent.”

“The actual nomination for that prize was put forth by a previous Nobel Prize winner in physiology or medicine. The 1920 Nobel Prize winner from Copenhagen, Denmark, a animal biologist named August Crowe. Who also happens to be the founder of Novo Nordisk.”

“85% of their revenue is dedicated to metabolic disorders. They are the second largest market cap pharma, second only to Eli Lilly.”

“Sanofi today, yeah, the three of those companies are essentially the entire insulin market.”

“I think this is going to be like insulin all over again, where there's just going to be a series of product improvements and companies will drive innovation and increase supply. I mean, the demand is so huge out there that Monroe can be a huge hit. Ozempic and…”

“Executives and board members are not given stock options as a part of their compensation.”

“This pharma giant is unique in that they are owned and controlled by a non-profit foundation.”

“51% of their revenue comes from diabetes-focused GLP-I drugs, and an additional 18% from obesity-related GLP-I. So 69% of their revenue comes from semaglutide or liraglutide.”

“So currently, Novo has clinical trials going for semaglutide, like same drug, same GLP-I's, use case in treating cardiovascular disease, in treating Alzheimer's, in treating kidney disease, many others.”

“So I think, assuming that Novo stays sort of neck and neck with Eli Lilly as they both keep coming out with better and better versions, that this could be the next Humira, or potentially much bigger than Humira. And I think the defensibility is an open questio…”

“So year one in the first year that it's on the market, Victoza does roughly three hundred million dollars in sales. The next year, the first full year it's on the market in 2011, it does over a billion dollars in sales. Just in that year.”

“And, foreshadowing, there is a moment much later in history where, absent the control of this foundation, Novo Nordisk would have ceased to exist. It is only because of this structure that Novo Nordisk survived, and that we have GLP-I's and everything we have …”

“Liraglutide ends up having a half-life in the human body of 13 hours compared to, you know, like, a half-life of two and a half minutes for straight up GLP-I.”

“Ozempic does over a billion dollars in revenue in 2019. It's first year on the market.”

“So when Wegevee finally launches in the U.S. In 2021 as the official FDA sanctioned weight loss version of semaglutide, it gets the same number of prescriptions written for it by doctors. In the first slightly over one month than Saxenda had in its entire drug…”

“Novo Nordisk has the patent on semaglutide until 2032.”

“One, it is much, much longer lasting in the body, so it only needs to be injected once per week instead of once per day.”

“Two, and much more important for the near term, it is twice as effective as liraglutide for weight loss.”

“As recently as 2005, 2005, like same year Baeta came out, Novo Nordisk's own official position on the obesity category, as articulated by the then CEO Lars Sorensen, was quote, Obesity is primarily a social and cultural problem. It should be solved by means of…”