Novo Nordisk is the company behind Wegovy and Ozempic, two medicines based on semaglutide.
The Danish pharmaceutical company developed semaglutide, a glucagon-like peptide-1, or GLP-1, analogue. Ozempic is marketed primarily for adults with type 2 diabetes, while Wegovy is approved for chronic weight management in eligible patients. Both products use semaglutide, but they have different approved indications and dosing schedules.
Strong demand for these medicines helped make Novo Nordisk one of the world’s most valuable listed healthcare companies by market capitalization. Its history, however, began long before the GLP-1 boom: Novo Nordisk was formed in 1989 through the merger of Novo Industri and Nordisk Gentofte.
A frequent confusion is with Eli Lilly, which makes the competing medicines Mounjaro and Zepbound. Those products contain tirzepatide rather than semaglutide.