Wegovy pill launches reach eight markets as Novo names a new CFO

Novo Nordisk said on 4 November that its Wegovy pill launches now cover eight countries, double the four it had reached by the end of September. The Danish drugmaker gave the update on its oral semaglutide alongside third quarter results, while a securities filing confirmed a change of finance chief: Karsten Munk Knudsen leaves at the end of 2026 and Luigi La Corte takes over. Adjusted operating profit rose 27% at constant exchange rates. Novo did not name the four newest markets.

Four named markets and four still unnamed

Novo's third quarter financial report lists four countries where the Wegovy pill was on sale by 30 September: the United States, the United Arab Emirates, the United Kingdom and Germany. The company said uptake in those markets brought pill sales of DKK 5,394 million in the quarter. It added that more recent Wegovy pill launches in four further countries took the total to eight, but the report does not say which countries they are, when the tablets reached pharmacies or at what price. For readers outside Denmark, that gap matters. A launch in a market with public reimbursement is a very different event from a launch for patients paying cash, and the report gives no split of pill sales by country or by payer.

The pill is a tablet form of semaglutide, the peptide behind the Wegovy and Ozempic injections. Novo also sells an Ozempic pill in the United States, launched in May, and said weekly new to brand prescriptions are up around 100% compared with levels before launch, when the product was sold under the Rybelsus brand. Chief executive Mike Doustdar said obesity medicines led growth, pointing to continued US uptake of the Wegovy pill and what he called "encouraging early launches internationally." He gave no figures for those international launches. The company also said its Wegovy brand holds more than half of new patient starts in the US branded obesity market, a company figure that the report does not break down.

A new Novo Nordisk CFO from outside the company

The Novo Nordisk CFO change was announced on the same Wednesday as the results. Karsten Munk Knudsen, who has spent 27 years at the company and has run its finances since 2018, will leave at the end of the year to "pursue other opportunities," CFO Dive reported, citing a securities filing. His successor, Luigi La Corte, is currently finance chief at a Swiss drug company and earlier held senior finance posts at Recordati of Italy and AstraZeneca of the United Kingdom, according to his LinkedIn profile as cited by the outlet. Novo said operating profit and operating cash flow almost tripled during Knudsen's time as CFO, while he helped expand manufacturing capacity to keep medicines in supply.

Novo said operating profit and operating cash flow almost tripled during Knudsen's time as CFO, while he helped expand manufacturing capacity to keep medicines in supply.

The filing did not state what La Corte will be paid, the outlet noted, and the results release does not mention the handover at all. For scale, Novo's 2025 remuneration report put Knudsen's total pay last year at DKK 18.7 million, including a base salary of DKK 10.3 million, according to CFO Dive. The timing is delicate for the supply side of the business. In the same quarter Novo booked DKK 4.1 billion of impairment charges tied to what it called right sizing of its manufacturing network. The incoming finance chief therefore inherits a pill business that is still adding countries and a plant network that the company is trimming. Novo has not said publicly how it will weigh those two pressures.

Profit rises while charges weigh on reported numbers

The Novo Nordisk Q3 2026 report shows net sales of DKK 79,195 million, up 6% in Danish kroner and 4% at constant exchange rates. The company said growth came from GLP 1 volumes in both its US and International Operations units, mainly in obesity. Adjusted operating profit reached DKK 31,720 million, a 27% rise at constant rates. Novo linked part of that jump to an easy comparison, since the year earlier quarter carried DKK 9 billion of company wide transformation costs. Reported operating profit tells a weaker story. It fell 9% at constant rates to DKK 23,011 million after DKK 8.7 billion of non cash impairments, of which DKK 4.6 billion related to the drug candidate ziltivekimab.

Novo now expects 2026 adjusted sales and adjusted operating profit each to land between a 2% fall and a 2% rise at constant rates. It said the raised outlook reflects higher expectations for GLP 1 product sales. That range is a company forecast, not a result, and it depends on demand the company cannot fully control. Over the first nine months, adjusted net sales reached DKK 227,746 million, up 2% at constant rates. Doustdar said he was pleased that both US Operations and International Operations grew sales in the quarter. The company also said the rollout of a higher strength Ozempic and a higher dose Wegovy single dose pen across International Operations is progressing, without naming countries or dates for those injectable products.

CagriSema and the next markets to watch

Beyond semaglutide, Novo reported new figures for CagriSema, its combination of cagrilintide and semaglutide. In the REDEFINE 9 trial the company said the combination produced weight loss of 21% at week 68. In REIMAGINE 5, in adults with type 2 diabetes and obesity, it reported weight loss of 12.4% against 9.1% for a tirzepatide comparator, with blood sugar control that met a non inferiority test at week 60. These are company summaries, and the release carries no full data or peer review. Novo said it is preparing a US launch of CagriSema in early 2027, subject to regulatory approval, and that a Phase 3 trial called AMAZE 9 with oral zenagamtide began in September.

The first open question is simple: which four countries joined the list of Wegovy pill launches after September, and whether any of them pay for it through public insurance. In Europe, readers can follow product changes through the latest Wegovy EPAR revision at the European Medicines Agency. Price pressure is also building in places where the main patent has lapsed and copies of injectable semaglutide are reaching patients. In Asia, Novo is pursuing partnerships such as a second Ozempic brand with Abbott. Inside the company, the next marker is the finance handover once Knudsen leaves at the end of the year, since no start date for La Corte has been published.

Conclusion

Novo's quarter showed a company leaning on its tablet. Wegovy pill launches reached eight countries by early November, the pill earned DKK 5,394 million in the third quarter, and adjusted profit rose. Reported profit fell on large charges, the four newest markets remain unnamed, and the finance chief who oversaw the original Wegovy launch leaves at the end of the year. Readers should watch for country names, reimbursement decisions and La Corte's first set of numbers.