European pharmaceutical giant Novo Nordisk (NVO) is rebranding as it pushes for market share in the increasingly competitive weight-loss drug industry.
The Danish company said in a news release that it is rebranding to “Novo” and updating its corporate culture as the company works to win back market share in the obesity drug category.
The change comes as Novo Nordisk loses share to its main rival Eli Lilly (LLY) and investor pressure grows for the company to deliver blockbuster weight-loss medications.
Novo also announced a broad rebrand focused around the phrase “Lasting Health Starts Now,” which promotes the idea that patients should make progress toward long-term well-being.
The company said the marketing is a bid to build trust with the public and other stakeholders and bring “breakthrough science closer to people’s daily lives.”
Management said they plan to deliver a detailed business strategy outlining more changes at the company during a “Capital Markets Day” scheduled for Sept. 21 of this year.
At the start of this year, Novo successfully launched a pill version of its weight-loss drug Wegovy, which surpassed three million prescriptions as of June.
The Wegovy pill got a head start over Eli Lilly’s weight-loss pill called Foundayo, which launched on April 1 of this year. Previously, obesity drugs were taken via injection using needles.
However, Novo continues to lag in the obesity drug space with 38.8% market share compared to Eli Lilly’s 60.9% share achieved in this year’s second quarter.
NVO stock has declined 23% over the past 12 months to trade at $43.07 U.S. per share.
