Novo Holdings, the controlling shareholder of weight loss drugmaker Novo Nordisk A/S (NYSE:NVO), reported Wednesday income and investment returns of 60 billion Danish kroner (around $8.68 billion) for 2024.

Novo Holdings owns 28.1% shares in Novo Nordisk.

Dividends and the share repurchase programs of the Novo Group companies (Novo Nordisk and Novonesis) totaled 23 billion Danish kroner, and Returns from the Investment Portfolio generated an income of 37 billion Danish kroner.

In the fourth quarter of 2024, Ozempic sales increased 12% to 33.85 billion Danish kroner, and Wegovy sales more than doubled to 19.87 billion Danish kroner.

Also Read: Novo Nordisk Shares Data From Injectable Ozempic, Oral Weight Loss Drug

Novo Holdings CEO Kasim Kutay called 2024 “a very strong year” since the portfolio generated returns of 18%. That’s up from 9.4% in 2023.

This year, Novo Holdings will focus on Asia and establish an office in India, Kutay added.

In 2024, Life Science Investments closed the year with 134 billion Danish kroner of Investment Assets and generated profits of 24 billion Danish kroner.

The Life Science Investments teams invested in a range of biotechnologies to advance new treatments for conditions such as cancer, cardiometabolic diseases, and neurodegenerative disorders, among other areas.

In 2024, Novo Holdings deployed 34 billion Danish kroner into the life sciences.

In total, 43 new companies were added to the Investment Portfolio in 2024, and multiple follow-on investments were made. By year-end, Novo Holdings had exited 27 companies, and the Investment Portfolio comprised 181 companies.

Total assets under management dropped slightly to 142 billion euros in 2024, from 149 billion in 2023. This is due to a decline in Novo Nordisk’s market value.

Novo Nordisk’s stock price has fallen almost 21% YTD. The stock declined around 24% in March, according to Benzinga Pro.

Disappointing trial results for Novo Nordisk's next-generation weight-loss drug has exacerbated investor concerns about its competitiveness.

In December 2024, the company announced phase 3 trial results for its cocktail obesity drug, CagriSema. Results showed a weight loss of 22.7% after 68 weeks—short of 25% expectations. In March, the company released another trial data showing that CagriSema only achieved a 15.7% weight reduction over 68 weeks.

Price Action: NVO stock is down 0.64% at $67.87 during the premarket session at the last check Wednesday.

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