Shares of Novo Nordisk climbed 5% on Wednesday after it stated gross sales of its blockbuster Wegovy weight reduction drug have been seen enhancing within the second half of the 12 months as the supply of copycat compounded medication is phased out.

The Danish pharmaceutical big reported lower-than-expected first-quarter gross sales of its flagship weight problems drug and trimmed its full-year gross sales development forecast as various variations of the drug have eaten away at its U.S. market share.

Nonetheless, CEO Lars Fruergaard Jørgensen instructed CNBC that the top of a drug scarcity ruling by the Meals and Drug Administration (FDA) would enable gross sales to choose up once more later within the 12 months.

“Compounders took a part of our business away,” Jørgensen instructed CNBC’s Charlotte Reed.

“We now expect that compounding will be knocked off, so to say, and we get that business growth going forward,” he added.

Shares of Novo Nordisk rose 5.77% by 9:40 a.m. London time.

The drugmaker on Wednesday reported a better-than-expected rise in first-quarter internet revenue of 29.03 billion Danish kroner ($4.4 billion) for the three-month interval to the top of March, forward of the 27.8 billion Danish kroner forecast by analysts in an LSEG ballot.

Gross sales of the corporate’s in style Wegovy weight problems drug rose 83% yearly at fixed alternate charges to 17.36 billion Danish kroner, barely under the 18.51 billion Danish kroner anticipated by analysts in a Factset ballot Tuesday.

Total revenues at Novo Nordisk — which additionally produces diabetes and uncommon illness therapies — rose 18% to 78.09 billion Danish kroner versus an anticipated 78.18 million Danish kroner.

For 2025, the corporate stated it now sees gross sales development of 13% to 21% at fixed alternate charges, under the 16% to 24% beforehand forecast in February. Working revenue development is forecast at 16% to 24%, versus 19% to 27% beforehand.

Jørgensen attributed the decreased forecast to rising competitors from compounded weight reduction medication within the U.S. within the early a part of the 12 months.

“In the first quarter of 2025, we delivered 18% sales growth and continued to expand the reach of our innovative GLP-1 treatments,” Jørgensen stated in a press release.

“However, we have reduced our full-year outlook due to lower than-planned branded GLP-1 penetration, which is impacted by the rapid expansion of compounding in the U.S.”

U.S. compounding pharmacies had been permitted to make authorized copies of Novo’s Wegovy and diabetes drug Ozempic underneath a drug scarcity ruling by the FDA.

The FDA declared that scarcity over in February, giving compounding pharmacies till Could 22 to stop promoting copies of the drug. As such, Novo stated it expects gross sales of compounded alternate options to ease quickly, and reiterated that it could pursue corporations that proceed to unlawfully distribute such copycat medication.

“Following the U.S. FDA removal of semaglutide injectables from the FDA drug shortage list, the sales outlook assumes a reduction in patients on compounded GLP-1 treatment during the second half of 2025,” the corporate stated.

The outcomes come amid runaway demand for the drugmaker’s blockbuster GLP-1 weight reduction therapies, which work by mimicking a hormone known as glucagon-like peptide-1 to suppress urge for food.

Nonetheless, the corporate has struggled to shake damaging sentiment following a collection of disappointing trial outcomes for its next-generation weight problems drug candidate CagriSema.