Novo Nordisk CEO says he’s open to direct NYSE listing

Novo Nordisk ↘ 3.12% chief executive Mike Doustdar said on Wednesday that the Danish drugmaker is open to a direct listing of its shares on the New York Stock Exchange, a move that would replace the American depositary receipts through which U.S. investors currently trade the stock.reuters+1

"I clearly do see some advantages with that," Doustdar told the Financial Times when asked whether Novo would consider a direct NYSE listing. "Our investor community to a larger extent has shifted over the last 20 years outside of Scandinavia, and we are increasingly speaking to investors in the U.S."live.euronext

No formal process is underway, and Novo's primary listing remains on Nasdaq Copenhagen ↗ 0.99%. Doustdar said the idea had circulated inside the company for roughly a decade but that there had been no "active dialogue or discussions" about it since he became CEO last year. He characterized his approach as deliberately open rather than settled: "I'm a type who doesn't start with a 'no' typically; I start with 'maybe.'"pharmexec+1

Why the U.S. Matters

The calculus behind even a hypothetical listing change reflects Novo's revenue mix. The United States accounts for more than half of the company's revenue and drives the bulk of sales of its diabetes and weight-management medicines, including Ozempic. A direct listing would give American investors access to Novo shares without the intermediary layer of depositary receipts, potentially improving trading liquidity.fiercepharma+1

Novo would not be the first European drugmaker to make such a move. AstraZeneca ↘ 2.99% pursued a similar restructuring of its U.S. listing earlier this year, part of a broader pattern of European pharmaceutical companies reconsidering how they access American capital markets.pharmexec+1

A Company Under Pressure

The listing discussion comes at a turbulent moment for Novo. The Ozempic maker was Europe's most valuable listed company as recently as 2023, but its shares have fallen sharply since then as competition from Eli Lilly's ↘ 1.64% Mounjaro and Zepbound compressed Novo's share of the metabolic medicine market. A string of pipeline setbacks, including phase 3 failures for blockbuster hopeful ziltivekimab, has added to investor unease.pharmexec+1

At his first capital markets day on Monday, Doustdar laid out plans to launch five blockbuster drugs by 2030, expand oral Wegovy production, and build a consumer-focused arm. But the pitch failed to reassure investors — Novo's shares fell roughly 8% after the event, extending a cumulative decline of about 20% since the start of the year. Some shareholders, as first reported by Reuters, have called on Novo to pursue larger acquisitions to bolster its pipeline.fiercepharma

Doustdar told the Financial Times that dealmaking would continue but remain disciplined. The company will not be "going Christmas shopping" just because acquisitions are now in fashion, he said.fiercepharma