Novo Nordisk's Pipeline Push: From Novel Injectables to Combination Trials as Shares Languish at Historic Discount

Novo Nordisk shares trade at a P/E of 10.3, down 46% from highs, as the company pursues experimental obesity treatments and combination therapies to regain investor confidence.

Novo Nordisk's stock is trading at a hefty discount to its own history — a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.3 times versus a five-year median of 35.4 — as the Danish drugmaker battles sector headwinds and intensifying competition. The shares closed at €37.65, down roughly 46% from the 52-week high of €70.13 set last June, and have shed 15.7% since the start of the year. Despite the market's pessimism, the company is pressing ahead on multiple research and commercial fronts.

The most experimental move comes in the early-stage pipeline: Novo Nordisk began recruiting patients in June for a phase 1, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial of NNC0113-5840, an injectable candidate aimed at overweight and obese individuals. The study will assess safety, tolerability and pharmacokinetics, laying groundwork for a successor to the blockbuster Wegovy franchise. Separately, the group has struck a clinical supply agreement with US biotech Veru for a phase 2b study dubbed PLATEAU. Veru will fund and run the trial, while Novo Nordisk provides Wegovy (semaglutide) at no cost. The combination pairs Wegovy with Veru's oral androgen receptor modulator enobosarm in older adults with obesity, testing whether the dual approach outperforms Wegovy alone. Novo Nordisk gains access to the study design, interim results and safety data — knowledge it can funnel into future internal trials. First readouts are not expected until 2027.

On the commercial side, an oral version of Wegovy is expanding its geographic footprint. After a US launch in late 2025 that generated over 300,000 prescriptions by February 2026, the daily tablet has now rolled out in the United Arab Emirates. The move aims to improve patient adherence by offering a needle-free alternative and to challenge Eli Lilly for leadership in the weight-loss market. In the near term, all eyes are on the upcoming ADA Scientific Sessions, where Novo Nordisk will present new data from its cardiometabolic portfolio. Evidence of broader health benefits beyond weight loss could provide the catalyst the shares need to begin closing the valuation gap.

The Veru collaboration is no game-changer for the stock, but it signals a strategic shift. Novo Nordisk is looking beyond semaglutide monotherapy, exploring combination regimens and novel mechanisms to capture harder-to-treat patient groups. Meanwhile, the early-stage NNC0113-5840 effort shows the company is already building the next generation of injectable therapies. For a stock trading at a fraction of its historical multiple, these pipeline bets will need to deliver — not just in the lab, but in restoring investor confidence.