When Maziar Mike Doustdar took over as CEO of Novo Nordisk last year, the company had lost ground in the anti-obesity drug market. Doustdar spoke with Jessica Mendoza about his plans to turn the company around, the recent success of their Wegovy pill and what keeps him up at night. Further Listening: - Ozempic Is a Hit. So Why Is the Drugmaker’s CEO Out? - Trillion Dollar Shot Sign up for WSJ’s free What’s News newsletter. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Novo Nordisk's CEO Has a Comeback Plan

The Journal.

# Full Transcript

**Podcast:** The Journal.

## Transcript

[SPEAKER_A] Not long ago, it seemed pretty clear who was winning the war of the weight loss drugs.

[SPEAKER_B] Novo Nordisk.

[SPEAKER_C] Novo Nordisk.

[SPEAKER_B] Ozempic maker Novo Nordisk.

[SPEAKER_D] Novo Nordisk, king of the weight loss people.

[SPEAKER_A] Novo Nordisk, the Danish drugmaker behind Ozempic and Wegovy, basically kickstarted an entire industry. But now the race looks very different.

[SPEAKER_B] Really bad news for what was the first mover in this space.

[SPEAKER_E] Shares of Novo Nordisk plunging by the most on record today. The weight loss trailblazer is rapidly ceding market share to rival Eli Lilly.

[SPEAKER_A] Novo's biggest rival, the American pharma giant Eli Lilly, has surged ahead. Lilly's obesity shot, Zepbound, helps patients lose more weight than Novo's Wegovy. But Novo has an edge in one critical area. Weight loss pills. The company released the Wegovy pill earlier this year, and it quickly became the biggest drug launch in recent history. At the center of all this is Mike Doustdar, the CEO who was hired 9 months ago to breathe new life into Novo Nordisk.

[SPEAKER_E] Mike Doustdar, welcome to The Journal.

[SPEAKER_F] It's nice to be here. Thank you very much, Jess.

[SPEAKER_A] I reached Mike last week at Novo's headquarters near Copenhagen. I wanted to understand how the company that started this whole boom found itself playing catch-up.

[SPEAKER_E] When you look back, where did Novo mess up?

[SPEAKER_F] Yeah, I wouldn't call it messing up. I would say the curse of a leader. When you basically go forward in a dark tunnel trying to pave the road for everyone else, there will be issues that no one has told you about because no one has been there before.

[SPEAKER_A] But can Novo Nordisk change fast enough to keep up with the revolution it started?

[SPEAKER_F] Many of our colleagues feel like, okay, there's a new CEO now in town and he started his transformation and great, after we get the sales back on track, it can go back to what it was. And it will never go back to what it was. You need to move forward.

[SPEAKER_A] Welcome to The Journal, our show about money, business, and power. I'm Jessica Mendoza. It's Tuesday, May 26th. Coming up on the show, the CEO of Novo Nordisk on the company's rescue plan.

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Novo Nordisk's CEO Has a Comeback Plan

Transcript

Built for investment professionals

Every day you wait, your competitors are finding
edge in conversations you're not hearing.

Novo Nordisk's CEO Has a Comeback Plan

Transcript

Built for investment professionals

Every day you wait, your competitors are findingedge in conversations you're not hearing.

Every day you wait, your competitors are finding
edge in conversations you're not hearing.