Guggenheim analyst Seamus Fernandez downgraded Novo Nordisk to Neutral from Buy, stating that his below-consensus estimates for sales and EPS in 2020 reflect increasing competition and payer pressure across the global insulin business. While his bullish stance on prospects for the semaglutide franchise are unchanged, his above-consensus estimates for Ozempic and Rybelsus already include Obesity, implying little room for upside, Fernandez tells investors. Additionally, the increasing concentration in diabetes and GLP-1 limits Novo's diversity and "returning Bio-Pharma to growth will be no small task," Fernandez contends.

Senator Bernie Sanders is set to lead a Senate investigation into the high prices charged by Novo Nordisk for its diabetes and anti-obesity medications Ozempic and Wegovy, The Financial Times' Oliver Barnes reports. Sanders wrote to Novo Nordisk CEO Lars Fruergaard Jorgensen to inform him the U.S. committee that oversees healthcare is probing "the outrageously high prices" the company charges for the drugs, saying that the drugs "will not do any good for the millions of patients who cannot afford them." Reference Link