Massive demand for diabetes and weight loss drugs made by Danish pharmaceutical group Novo Nordisk have turned it into Europe’s most valuable company, giving Denmark’s economy a major makeover.
“If it wasn’t for Novo Nordisk there wouldn’t have been any growth” in the first six months of the year, Danske Bank chief economist Las Olsen told AFP.
The company’s earnings have ballooned thanks to two in-demand prescription medications: type 2 diabetes drug Ozempic — made famous by US celebrities for its weight loss side effects — and obesity drug Wegovy.
In the first half of 2023, Denmark’s economy grew by 1.7 percent year-on-year, official data showed.
Excluding the pharma industry, it shrank by 0.3 percent.
“We’ve never seen anything like it, it’s changing the picture of the economy,” said Statistics Denmark analyst Jonas Petersen.
Industrial production in Denmark “is up 40 percent compared to pre-pandemic levels,” noted Palle Sorensen, chief economist at Nykredit bank.
By comparison, “in the eurozone in general and in the US it’s pretty much at the same level as before the pandemic,” he said.
That “also means that the recovery from the pandemic has been stronger.”
The Novo Nordisk effect is seen in the state’s coffers — the company is the country’s biggest taxpayer — as well as in Denmark’s trade balance and employment figures.
