‘Treating obesity for the next 100 years’: Ozempic-maker Novo Nordisk targets tripling of Apac patient base

[SINGAPORE] With hundreds of millions living with obesity and diabetes across the Asia-Pacific region, Danish drugmaker Novo Nordisk believes there is significant scope for growth in demand for its treatments – and in the process, an opportunity to triple the number of patients it serves in the next few years.

The company’s anti-obesity and diabetes management drugs are currently used by “less than five million patients” across the Asia-Pacific markets where it has a presence. This is out of a pool of roughly 400 million people in the region living with obesity and another 150 million managing diabetes.

“We’ve been sustained on treating diabetes for the last 100 years, and we’ll probably be able to sustain treating obesity for the next 100 years as well,” said Jay Thyagarajan, senior vice-president for Asia-Pacific at Novo Nordisk, in a recent interview with The Business Times.

While it has its roots in insulin manufacturing, the pharmaceutical giant is now best known for its glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1) agonists, a class of drugs primarily used to manage Type 2 diabetes.

In many markets, GLP-1 drugs have been approved by health authorities for weight management. These drugs have been shown to regulate blood sugar, reduce appetite and slow digestion, with additional benefits observed in cardiovascular health.

Novo Nordisk’s GLP-1 portfolio includes Ozempic, an injectable drug approved in Singapore for diabetes treatment, and Wegovy, a variant approved for weight management.

Both medications contain the active ingredient semaglutide.

Penetration rates for anti-obesity and diabetes management GLP-1 drugs in the Asia-Pacific markets where Novo Nordisk operates stand at about 0.5 per cent and 2 per cent, respectively, Thyagarajan noted, adding that “there’s a long way to go in treating” such conditions.

World Health Organization guidelines define obesity as having a body mass index of 30 or higher. To illustrate, a 30-year-old male who is 1.8 metres tall and weighs more than 97.1 kilogrammes would be classified as obese.

In Singapore, the Ministry of Health’s latest National Population Health Survey found that the proportion of obese residents “increased significantly” to 12.7 per cent in 2023 to 2024, from 10.5 per cent in 2019 to 2020.

Thyagarajan said that, by volume of GLP-1 sales, Novo Nordisk’s largest Asia-Pacific markets are Australia, Japan, South Korea and India, in that order. Other markets include those in South-east Asia, including Singapore.

Across the company’s Asia-Pacific operations, sales of GLP-1 medications for diabetes care rose 12 per cent for the nine months ended Sep 30, 2025, just behind Europe and Canada, which recorded 15 per cent growth.

Meanwhile, sales of GLP-1 drugs for obesity care grew at the fastest pace in the Asia-Pacific, surging 221 per cent, compared with 65 per cent in Europe and Canada, and 46 per cent in emerging markets.

For the nine-month period, Novo Nordisk reported net sales of 229.9 billion Danish kroner (S$46.2 billion), up 12 per cent year on year. Net profit rose 4 per cent to 75.5 billion Danish kroner.

Patent pressures

One headwind faced by the company – and one also closely watched by investors – is the expiry of patents in key markets, which could open the door to lower-priced generics and squeeze margins.

In December 2025, Bloomberg reported that Novo Nordisk had cut list prices of Wegovy’s two highest dosages by about half in parts of China, ahead of the expiry of its semaglutide patent in the country in March.

In Canada, patent protections on semaglutide expired in early January, while expiries are also set to hit in 2026 for large markets such as India and Brazil.

Thyagarajan said that the upcoming patent expiry in China was not related to the price cuts there, stressing instead that the move was aimed at lowering costs for patients.

“Patent expiry is a natural effect of a product life cycle that every pharma company goes through, and we were prepared for this,” he added.

Focus on innovation

One way the company intends to manage patent expiries is through continued investments in research and development, including work on novel drug formulations, Thyagarajan noted.

One such bet appears to be paying off: an oral version of Wegovy, taken as a pill, where “you’ve seen the effect (of that) on the share price already”.

Novo Nordisk’s share price has rallied in recent weeks, rising more than 21 per cent in the year to date, partly driven by investor optimism following US Food and Drug Administration’s approval of the oral version of Wegovy in December.

The rebound has helped arrest a broader slide in the counter, which remains down more than 30 per cent over the past year, after plunging nearly 50 per cent in 2025 amid concerns over rising competition, patent expiries and stiff valuations.

“We want to stay ahead as the most innovative company in the future as well, and that will, of course, ensure that the share price and the investors are taken care of in the process,” Thyagarajan added.