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The Journal.

Novo Nordisk's CEO Has a Comeback Plan

The Journal.

The Wall Street Journal

News, Daily News, Business News

4.25.8K Ratings

🗓️ 26 May 2026

⏱️ 21 minutes

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

When Maziar Mike Doustdar took over as CEO of Novo Nordisk last year, the company had lost ground in the anti-obesity drug market. Doustdar spoke with Jessica Mendoza about his plans to turn the company around, the recent success of their Wegovy pill and what keeps him up at night. Further Listening: - Ozempic Is a Hit. So Why Is the Drugmaker’s CEO Out? - Trillion Dollar Shot Sign up for WSJ’s free What’s News newsletter. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0

Not long ago, it seemed pretty clear who was winning the war of the weight loss drugs.

0:12.6

Novo Nordisk.

0:13.8

Nozumik maker Novo Nordisk.

0:16.5

Novo Nordisk.

0:17.8

King of the weight loss people.

0:20.2

Novo Nordisk, the Danish drug maker behind Ozenpik and Wagovi, basically kick-started an entire industry.

0:27.6

But now, the race looks very different.

0:30.6

Really bad news for what was the first mover in this space.

0:33.6

Shares of Novo Nordis plunging by the most on record today.

0:36.6

The weight loss trailblazer is rapidly seating market share to rival Eli Lilly.

0:42.0

Novo's biggest rival, the American pharma giant Eli Lilly, has surged ahead.

0:48.2

Lily's obesity shot, Zepbound, helps patients lose more weight than Novo's Wagovi.

0:53.2

But Novo has an edge in one critical area, weight loss pills.

0:58.9

The company released the Wagovi pill earlier this year,

1:02.1

and it quickly became the biggest drug launch in recent history.

1:06.1

At the center of all this is Mike Duster,

1:09.0

the CEO who was hired nine months ago to breathe new life into

1:13.0

Novo Nordisk.

1:18.2

Mike Dostar, welcome to the journal.

1:20.6

It's nice to be here. Thank you very much, yes.

1:23.1

I reached Mike last week at Novo's headquarters near Copenhagen.

1:27.1

I wanted to understand how the company that started this whole boom found itself playing catch-up.

...

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