Novo Nordisk Slims Name Down to Novo — Update

By Adria Calatayud

Wegovy maker Novo Nordisk said it is rebranding as Novo, betting a slimmed-down name will help its brand resonate with consumers to compete with rival Eli Lilly.

The Danish drugmaker is preparing to detail the next phase of Chief Executive Officer Mike Doustdar's comeback plan at an update with investors later this month.

Doustdar took the reins in August last year and set out to turn around a company that had ceded the crown in the obesity market it pioneered to Lilly. Since taking the top job, he has implemented a cost-savings plan that included 9,000 job cuts and launched a pill version of its popular Wegovy drug that placed Novo ahead of its U.S. rival in the market for oral obesity medications.

The company said Monday that the rebrand marks the beginning of its next chapter. The new corporate identity with the single Novo name aims to make the company more recognizable and consistent in the way it reaches people, it said.

Today's Novo Nordisk is the result of a 1989 merger between two Danish firms with roots dating back to the origins of insulin production in Scandinavia in the 1920s--Nordisk Insulinlaboratorium and Novo Terapeutisk Laboratorium.

The company said it would use Novo--Latin for "new"--as its name in day-to-day operations, but keep Novo Nordisk as its legal name globally. It also refreshed its logo to reflect the new brand, maintaining the Apis bull of ancient Egypt as its image.

Novo said it would emphasize competitiveness in its corporate culture going forward, adding that new behaviors and ways of working were needed to lead in a faster, more competitive and increasingly consumer-driven market.

Some analysts say the market for obesity drugs--particularly the pill segment--resembles that of consumer-health products, as opposed to conventional prescription medicines.

The rebrand and shift in culture are part of changes Novo plans to introduce to deliver on its business objectives, it said.

The company has scheduled an event with investors for Sept. 21, when it expects to provide an update on its new corporate strategy.

Novo last month said it was benefiting from strong momentum for its Wegovy pill, with more than 5 million prescriptions since its launch in January, and lifted its full-year sales and operating profit guidance as a result.

However, some investors have grown worried about the company's drug pipeline after disappointing data for its next-generation obesity and diabetes drug CagriSema, as well as for an experimental cardiovascular drug.

Write to Adria Calatayud at adria.calatayud@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

September 14, 2026 07:09 ET (11:09 GMT)