>At the end of 2023, Novo Nordisk became the largest company in Europe. And its rise has eclipsed the Danish economy, creating a lot of value on the one hand, but an imbalanced economy on the other.
>Nearly 1 out of every 5 Danish jobs created last year was at Novo. And that’s just directly. If you also include the jobs that Novo has created indirectly — like, for example, at its suppliers, or from all the newly wealthy Novo employees spending their money at shops and restaurants — nearly half of all private-sector nonfarm jobs created in Denmark can be traced back to Novo.
I didn’t like how the article compared it with petrostates.
Petro is a resource, and ozempic is a product from a public company. I see a good prospect for ozempic and any weight loss medication. Unfortunately, the obesity rate is increasing at high rates.
Edit: Why was the article concerned with the Danish currency? Didn’t they adopt euro?
What if your entire economy was based on one product? TV commercials joke that America runs on Dunkin’, but for all intents and purposes, Denmark quite literally runs on Ozempic, a diabetes medication that is now widely used by consumers to lose weight.
You might have heard of “petrostates,” countries where fossil fuel extraction dominates the economy. By that measure, you might call Denmark a pharmastate, because Novo now dominates the Danish economy.
Novo Nordisk’s meteoric trajectory raises a question about economic growth that’s much bigger than just Denmark: Namely, what are the risks of having one giant company driving your entire economy? And crucially, what happens if that company’s fortunes take a turn for the worse?
The Danish economy was solid before Novo’s recent success and will be solid afterwards. There are no doomsday bells. Relax. As the article also concludes: “If dealt with carefully, Denmark’s problem can be a good one to have. Novo Nordisk’s astounding success is great for the Danish economy, of course, but only if policymakers understand the risks that come with having too much of a good thing. For now, it seems like they do.”
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>At the end of 2023, Novo Nordisk became the largest company in Europe. And its rise has eclipsed the Danish economy, creating a lot of value on the one hand, but an imbalanced economy on the other.
>Nearly 1 out of every 5 Danish jobs created last year was at Novo. And that’s just directly. If you also include the jobs that Novo has created indirectly — like, for example, at its suppliers, or from all the newly wealthy Novo employees spending their money at shops and restaurants — nearly half of all private-sector nonfarm jobs created in Denmark can be traced back to Novo.
I didn’t like how the article compared it with petrostates.
Petro is a resource, and ozempic is a product from a public company. I see a good prospect for ozempic and any weight loss medication. Unfortunately, the obesity rate is increasing at high rates.
Edit: Why was the article concerned with the Danish currency? Didn’t they adopt euro?
What if your entire economy was based on one product? TV commercials joke that America runs on Dunkin’, but for all intents and purposes, Denmark quite literally runs on Ozempic, a diabetes medication that is now widely used by consumers to lose weight.
Ozempic is proving to be a powerful growth engine. Its worldwide sales have [increased by over 60%](https://click.nl.npr.org/?qs=f88262a84881c23105ea91e7cc58a9816ec23d707401164698a62e0c265f8af61c3e275f2fee0d4cd2601030e64d7447ab6478f24480c3de) in the past year alone. In the United States, which is one of its largest markets, prescriptions for Ozempic and similar drugs [quadrupled](https://click.nl.npr.org/?qs=f88262a84881c231acf0fb7cf994d21fa25eb0e696c9877cca8d476e42020001df85116925468ad5faefd630501e812b599f13f246926b95) between 2020 and 2022. And even with those blockbuster sales, demand is so high that there has been a [persistent shortage](https://click.nl.npr.org/?qs=f88262a84881c231db7ad2cf2696de36a6822ce4624160a48b7e69f80109208c0104abf7f6319c26f03dedac3901ea73411068ffef20437c) of Ozempic in the U.S. for a large part of the past few years.
Ozempic’s manufacturer, the Danish company Novo Nordisk, is reaping the fruits of the craze. Its [net profit more than doubled](https://click.nl.npr.org/?qs=f88262a84881c231cd96529e7d1e4e9a9e4ff3c740923390949516be55817f6be1192de51340098d8588c4ffb245a54fa9019c28fec7d065) between 2019 and 2023, and its stock has soared to new heights. At the end of 2023, [Novo became the largest company in Europe](https://click.nl.npr.org/?qs=f88262a84881c231b4dd6876ccf8a1307116ad19fb49cf2284f1bbb6f024e0c60831fec80b35291a3e21725252696b1b877a048276bb1352). And its rise has eclipsed the Danish economy, creating a lot of value on the one hand, but an imbalanced economy on the other.
You might have heard of “petrostates,” countries where fossil fuel extraction dominates the economy. By that measure, you might call Denmark a pharmastate, because Novo now dominates the Danish economy.
Nearly 1 out of every 5 Danish jobs created last year [was at Novo](https://click.nl.npr.org/?qs=f88262a84881c231d468e187ca8db52d1665e91a04c43e20850d8291583bae79ba3d29029f31f910f40c705ddac185b6058e789339c543c4). And that’s just directly. If you also include the jobs that Novo has created indirectly — like, for example, at its suppliers, or from all the newly wealthy Novo employees spending their money at shops and restaurants — nearly half of all private-sector nonfarm jobs created in Denmark can be traced back to Novo.
More than that, Denmark’s gross domestic product [would have shrunk last year](https://click.nl.npr.org/?qs=f88262a84881c2310fc3b35bc867a6401a13b64dfbddbed2a7f322d90b1b6db8a1142aa7e01a5bd904957c95bdf40c4278cd6c318bdf5032) without the contribution of the pharma sector. In other words, the company has almost single-handedly rescued the country from a recession.
Novo Nordisk’s meteoric trajectory raises a question about economic growth that’s much bigger than just Denmark: Namely, what are the risks of having one giant company driving your entire economy? And crucially, what happens if that company’s fortunes take a turn for the worse?
The Danish economy was solid before Novo’s recent success and will be solid afterwards. There are no doomsday bells. Relax. As the article also concludes: “If dealt with carefully, Denmark’s problem can be a good one to have. Novo Nordisk’s astounding success is great for the Danish economy, of course, but only if policymakers understand the risks that come with having too much of a good thing. For now, it seems like they do.”