Novo Nordisk CEO looks beyond weight loss to longevity and aesthetics

Novo Nordisk A/S Chief Executive Officer Mike Doustdar says the company’s blockbuster obesity drugs could ultimately pull it into increasingly buzzy areas of healthcare, from longevity research to aesthetic medicine. “We have to be obsessed with what our patients want,” Doustdar said Sunday in an interview at the American Diabetes Association conference in New Orleans. On longevity, Doustdar pointed to a growing body of research suggesting the main ingredient in Novo’s drugs Ozempic and Wegovy — semaglutide — may do more than just help patients lose weight. In some studies, Novo has said the drug protects vital organs including the heart, liver and kidneys, and that these benefits appear to emerge before patients have lost significant weight. “If it is true that semaglutide slows down a lot of those conditions as a molecule, then maybe whether we like it or not, we are already in a bit of a longevity game,” Doustdar said. “We’re sitting in the middle of fully understanding that, and of course, exploring that.” His comments come as the Danish drugmaker’s focus on just two core areas — obesity and diabetes — has rankled some investors who want it to branch out in the face of generic competition and as rivals like Eli Lilly & Co. grab more share of the market. Unlike Lilly, whose portfolio spans oncology to immunology and neuroscience, Novo gets more than 90% of its revenue from diabetes and obesity treatments. Read More: Novo Says Priority Is Obesity Despite Investor Calls to Expand Doustdar, who took on his current role nearly a year ago, said Novo is increasingly asking its scientists to look beyond weight loss and identify what other diseases future generations of GLP-1 drugs could be designed to remedy. In his view, weight reduction may eventually become “just an appendix of a different purpose.” The CEO’s comments reflect a growing belief across the drug industry that obesity medicines could eventually be used to prevent or delay some chronic diseases associated