Novo Nordisk Navigates a Crucial Week as Wegovy's Formulary Edge Vanishes and CagriSema Data Beckon
01.06.2026 - 15:32:36 | boerse-global.de
The Danish pharmaceutical heavyweight is confronting a defining moment on two fronts. CVS Caremark, one of the largest U.S. pharmacy benefit managers, has just stripped Wegovy of its exclusive formulary status — a blow that reshuffles the competitive landscape for roughly 25 to 30 million Americans. At the same time, the company is days away from unveiling pivotal late-stage pipeline data that investors hope will restore confidence in its ability to fend off Eli Lilly.
The End of a One-Year Monopoly
Wegovy had enjoyed a privileged position in CVS Caremark’s weight-management formulary since July 2025, locked in through an exclusive deal with the pharmacy benefit manager. That arrangement, which directed prescribers and patients toward the Novo Nordisk blockbuster, has now lapsed exactly one year later. CVS has reinstated Eli Lilly’s Zepbound injection as a preferred option and will add Lilly’s oral pill Foundayo to the same tier starting October 1.
The move is expected to generate savings of 10 to 15 percent across CVS’s weight-management category — a clear signal that the benefit manager is willing to play competitors against each other. For Novo Nordisk, the commercial advantage that systematically funnelled scripts toward Wegovy has evaporated, even if the damage is partially contained.
Tom Scales, the company’s senior vice president for market access, stressed that both the injectable and oral versions of Wegovy retain “Preferred Status” within the CVS network. Patients currently on the therapy can continue treatment without interruption. That cushion softens the immediate revenue hit but does not eliminate the strategic loss.
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Financial Headwinds and Stock Buybacks
The formulary setback lands at a particularly delicate moment. Novo Nordisk’s reported first-quarter revenue rose 32 percent in constant currencies, but that figure was inflated by a one-time benefit from the U.S. 340B drug pricing program. Excluding that effect, underlying revenue actually shrank by 4 percent. For the full year 2026, management has guided for an adjusted top- and bottom-line decline of 4 to 12 percent.
The stock is trading at roughly €39, equivalent to around DKK 293, which translates into a price-earnings multiple of about 11 and a dividend yield of 3.84 percent. That is a far cry from the €70.13 peak hit 52 weeks ago — the shares remain more than 44 percent below that high and have shed nearly 13 percent since the start of the year.
In the background, the company continues to deploy its buyback programme. Launched in May, the plan authorises the repurchase of B-shares worth up to DKK 11.2 billion, running through February 2027. By the end of May, Novo Nordisk had already scooped up roughly 17 million B-shares at an average price of DKK 262, representing a total outlay of about DKK 4.5 billion.
Pipeline Data as the Deciding Factor
All eyes now turn to New Orleans, where the American Diabetes Association’s annual Scientific Sessions run from June 5 to 8. Novo Nordisk will present 40 abstracts covering its next generation of diabetes and obesity therapies. The centrepiece is the Phase 3 REIMAGINE programme — three studies testing CagriSema, a once-weekly fixed-dose combination of the GLP-1 receptor agonist semaglutide and the long-acting amylin analogue cagrilintide, in patients with type 2 diabetes. Investors want to see whether the combination can outperform existing monotherapies on both glycaemic control and weight reduction.
Alongside CagriSema, the company will release Phase 2 data on Zenagamtide, an experimental dual GLP-1/amylin agent also dosed weekly. Updated cardiometabolic profiles for Ozempic and Wegovy round out the presentation slate. On June 7, Novo Nordisk will host a dedicated R&D investor event to walk through the results in detail and flesh out the regulatory timeline.
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The U.S. Food and Drug Administration is expected to rule on CagriSema for weight loss in the fourth quarter of 2026. The data out of New Orleans will heavily influence how the market prices those odds. As analysts at William Blair and other houses have noted, the stock’s trajectory this week will be determined by whether the REIMAGINE findings can rekindle faith in Novo Nordisk’s competitive edge against Eli Lilly’s expanding arsenal — which already includes the recently listed oral Foundayo.
With a gross margin still above 80 percent and oral Wegovy now on the market since early 2026, the Danish drugmaker is not without defences. But the combination of a lost formulary advantage and the urgent need to prove its pipeline’s mettle makes this week one of the most consequential for Novo Nordisk in recent memory.
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