Novo Nordisk raises 2017 forecasts despite continued US price pressure

Copenhagen

NOVO Nordisk, the world's leading maker of diabetes drugs, reported a better than expected profit on Wednesday driven by new diabetes and obesity drugs, though it said sale prices would remain under pressure in the United States.

The Danish drugmaker shocked markets in 2016 by cutting its long-term operating profit forecasts twice on the back of price pressures in its main US market, sending its shares down more than 40 per cent last year.