Novo Nordisk announced on Monday, September 14, 2026 that it will rebrand under the single name Novo, while retaining Novo Nordisk A/S as its legal corporate name. The change comes as the drugmaker faces pressure from Eli Lilly in the US market for obesity treatments and after a steep decline in its share price.
The company has adopted the slogan “Lasting Health Starts Now” and unveiled “The Novo Way”, a four-part framework for its corporate culture. Its principles are customer obsession, competitiveness, clarity, and care and integrity. Novo did not set out how those principles would translate into changes across its operations.
The revised identity will retain the Apis bull logo, which has long been associated with the company. The bull has been turned to face forward, which Novo said reflects its focus on the future.
The rebrand has been developed after nearly four decades operating as Novo Nordisk. Novo Nordisk A/S was created through the 1989 merger of Novo Terapeutisk Laboratorium and Nordisk Insulinlaboratorium.
Mike Doustdar, who became chief executive in August 2025, is due to give investors a fuller account of the company’s updated strategy at a Capital Markets Day in London on September 21. Novo has yet to provide details of when the branding will be fully introduced or how it will be applied to individual products.
The change follows a difficult period for the company in the obesity and diabetes drug market. In the second quarter, Eli Lilly held 60.9% of the US obesity drug market, compared with Novo’s 38.8%.
Novo shares have shed about 15% in 2026 and are off close to 20% over the trailing twelve months. The stock’s performance in 2025 was its worst annual performance since 1984, with shares falling more than half their value during the year.
Its oral version of Wegovy has nevertheless gained customers since its January launch. The treatment passed 3 million prescriptions through June, while second-quarter sales of oral Wegovy reached 3.2 billion Danish kroner, or approximately $494 million.
There has also been progress in China. The Chinese National Medical Products Administration formally accepted Novo’s application for the oral version of Wegovy on August 27, 2026.
Elsewhere, Novo has suffered a setback with ziltivekimab, an experimental cardiovascular medicine. The drug failed to reduce major adverse cardiac events in a late-stage clinical trial, recording a hazard ratio of 0.99.
The company discontinued two further trials involving ziltivekimab, taking the total number of scrapped ziltivekimab trials to three. Novo said the trial result would not change its adjusted operating profit outlook for 2026, though it expects to take a non-cash impairment charge in the third quarter.
The new name and culture programme place competitiveness at the centre of Novo’s public response to these pressures. Investors will be looking to the September 21 event for further details on the company’s plans for its drugs business and its effort to recover market share.
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