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Novo Nordisk cuts forecasts after replica obesity drugs hit US take-up

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Novo Nordisk cuts forecasts after replica obesity drugs hit US take-up

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Danish pharmaceutical group Novo Nordisk has cut sales and profit forecasts after replica drugs hit take-up of its blockbuster GLP-1 obesity and diabetes medicines Wegovy and Ozempic in the US.

The company beat operating profit forecasts for the first quarter of the year but said it had been hit by compounding — preparations custom-made by pharmacies using the active ingredients of patented drugs.

“In the first quarter of 2025, we delivered 18 per cent sales growth and continued to expand the reach of our innovative GLP-1 treatments,” said Lars Fruergaard Jørgensen, president and chief executive. “However, we have reduced our full-year outlook due to lower-than-planned branded GLP-1 penetration, which is impacted by the rapid expansion of compounding in the US.”

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Novo also said its US operations would no longer have to meet the company’s global gender goals, as President Donald Trump’s administration applies pressure to remove diversity initiatives.

Sales growth for this year is now expected to be 13 to 21 per cent at constant exchange rates, compared with earlier guidance of 16 to 24 per cent. Operating profit growth is forecast at 16 to 24 per cent, compared with a previous range of 19 to 27 per cent.

Sales rose 18 per cent year-on-year to DKr78.1bn ($11.9bn) at constant exchange rates in the first quarter. Operating profits climbed 20 per cent to DKr38.8bn, beating consensus analyst forecasts.

Novo shares rose more than 5 per cent in morning trading.

Compounding began in the US after the Food and Drug Administration regulator declared official shortages in 2022 of Wegovy, Ozempic and Zepbound, which is made by Novo’s rival Eli Lilly. Patients have been able to buy compounded products for as little as $199 a month. List prices for the branded drugs, charged to people without insurance, are $1,000 or more.

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The FDA has now said the shortage is over, meaning pharmacies must stop selling compounded versions of the Novo drugs by May 22. 

Novo said it expects “a step up in the business that used to go to compounders” in the second half of the year, according to chief financial officer Karsten Munk Knudsen. Another potential boost for Wegovy includes deals to sell it at discounted rates at the drugstore chain CVS and via telehealth companies. Novo also plans to speed up its international expansion of Wegovy outside the US, Knudsen said.

“We’ve launched in around 25 markets currently and we see an accelerated launch schedule following increased supplies,” he said.

In a statement alongside its results, the drugmaker said: “While Novo Nordisk maintains our global aspiration of a minimum 45 per cent representation for each gender by the end of 2025, Novo Nordisk’s operations in the US will no longer participate in this global initiative due to evolving legal requirements,” the company said.

Although none have been announced yet, the pharma industry will potentially have to deal with US tariffs on pharmaceutical imports. Tariffs “may have a negative impact on Novo Nordisk and our industry”, the company said on Wednesday.

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Novo has significant production capacity already in the US and exports more from the country than it imports, Jørgensen said. It has announced more than $24bn of investments in the US over the past decade.

Novo was showing “encouraging” signs of “fighting back” in the face of investor worries that it was losing ground to Lilly, said Emily Field, an analyst at Barclays.

“The results and the guidance cut are for the most part in the realm of what people had been expecting,” Field said. “What people really want to hear from them is how confident they are that volumes are going to increase in the second half — because it’s a volume play.”

Novo has also faced investor scrutiny about its planned successor obesity and diabetes drugs, after two sets of worse than expected trial results for its product CagriSema.

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Man Charged With Posting Bomb Instructions Used in New Orleans Attack

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Man Charged With Posting Bomb Instructions Used in New Orleans Attack

Federal prosecutors have filed charges against a former Army serviceman they accused of distributing instructions on how to build explosives that were used by a man who conducted a deadly attack in New Orleans on New Year’s Day last year.

The former serviceman, Jordan A. Derrick, a 40-year-old from Missouri, was charged with one count of engaging in the business of manufacturing explosive materials without a license; one count of unlawful possession of an unregistered destructive device; and one count of distributing information relating to manufacturing explosives, according to a criminal complaint unsealed on Wednesday. The three charges together carry a maximum sentence of 40 years in federal prison.

Starting in September 2023, the authorities said, Mr. Derrick was using various social media sites to share videos of himself making explosive materials, including detonators. His videos provided step-by-step instructions, and he often engaged with viewers in comments, sometimes answering their questions about the chemistry behind the explosives.

The authorities said that Mr. Derrick’s videos were downloaded by Shamsud-Din Bahar Jabbar, 42, who was accused of ramming a pickup truck into a crowd on Bourbon Street in New Orleans on Jan. 1, 2025, in a terrorist attack that killed 14 people and injured dozens. Mr. Jabbar was killed in a shootout with the police. Before the attack, Mr. Jabbar had placed two explosives on Bourbon Street, the authorities said, but they did not detonate.

The authorities later recovered two laptops and a USB drive in a house that Mr. Jabbar had rented. The USB drive contained several videos created by Mr. Derrick that provided instructions on making explosives. The authorities said the explosives they recovered were consistent with the ones Mr. Derrick had posted about.

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Mr. Derrick’s lawyers did not respond to requests for comment.

Mr. Derrick was a combat engineer in the Army, where he provided personnel and vehicle support, the authorities said. He also helped supervise safety personnel during demolitions and various operations. He was honorably discharged in February 2013.

The authorities did not say whether Mr. Derrick had any communication with Mr. Jabbar, or whether the men had known each other. In some of Mr. Derrick’s videos and comments, he indicated that he was aware that his videos could be misused.

“There are a plethora of uh, moral, you know, entanglements with topics, any topic of teaching explosives, right?” he asked in one video, according to the affidavit. “Of course, the wrong people could get it.”

The authorities also said that an explosion occurred at a private residence in Odessa, Mo., on May 4, and the occupant of the residence told investigators that he had manufactured explosives after watching online tutorials from Mr. Derrick.

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Mr. Derrick’s YouTube account had more than 15,000 subscribers and 20 published videos, the affidavit said. He had also posted content on other platforms, including Odysee and Patreon. Some videos were accessible to the public for free, while others required a paid subscription to view.

“My responsibility to my countrymen is to make sure that I serve the function of the Second Amendment to strengthen it,” Mr. Derrick said in one of his videos, according to the affidavit. “This is how I serve my country for real.”

Outside of the income he received through content creation, Mr. Derrick did not have any known employment. He did receive a monthly disability check from Veterans Affairs, the affidavit stated.

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The Girls: “This isn’t ringing alarms to y’all?” : Embedded

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The Girls: “This isn’t ringing alarms to y’all?” : Embedded
Allegations pile up, but Child Protective Services declines to investigate and the school district continues to promote Ronnie Stoner. We include an update at the end of the episode. “The Girls” is a 4-part series from the Louisville Public Media’s investigative podcast, Dig.
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Chud the Builder, Known for Racist Confrontations, Charged With Attempted Murder

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Chud the Builder, Known for Racist Confrontations, Charged With Attempted Murder

A streamer known for hurling racist slurs in public settings under the nickname “Chud the Builder” was charged with attempted murder after a shooting outside a Tennessee courthouse on Wednesday, the authorities said.

The streamer, Dalton Eatherly, 28, was involved in a confrontation with an unidentified man that escalated to gunfire outside the Montgomery County Court in Clarksville, about 50 miles northwest of Nashville, the Montgomery County Sheriff’s Office said in a statement. Both men sustained gunshot wounds and were in stable condition, the office said.

In addition to attempted murder, Mr. Eatherly was charged with employing a firearm during dangerous felony, aggravated assault and reckless endangerment with a deadly weapon, the sheriff’s office said.

Mr. Eatherly, who is white, has accumulated an online audience by livestreaming confrontations in which he uses racist language toward Black people in public.

Law enforcement did not provide any details about the second man involved in Wednesday’s shooting. Mr. Eatherly posted an audio recording online of paramedics treating his wounds in which he claims he shot the man in self-defense.

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A video posted by the website Clarksville Now shows Mr. Eatherly on a stretcher with a microphone attached to his lapel.

Mr. Eatherly is being held at the Montgomery County Jail, pending arraignment, the sheriff’s office said.

According to court records, Mr. Eatherly was scheduled to appear for a court hearing on Wednesday morning in an unrelated case brought by Midland Credit Management, a collections agency.

A lawyer listed in court records from a separate harassment case in which Mr. Eatherly was a defendant in November did not respond to a request for comment.

On Sunday, three days before the shooting in Clarksville, Mr. Eatherly was arrested in Nashville. According to a police affidavit, Mr. Eatherly live streamed his meal at a restaurant, Bob’s Steak and Chop House, on Saturday even though the restaurant had asked him ahead of time not to do so.

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When he was confronted, Mr. Eatherly “became disruptive and started making racial statements, yelling, screaming and otherwise creating a scene,” according to the affidavit.

He then refused to pay for his $370 meal. Mr. Eatherly was charged with theft of services, disorderly conduct and resisting arrest. He was released on $5,000 bond.

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