The challenge Novo Nordisk faces in China underscores a bigger shift in the Chinese biopharma industry.
Illustration by Sam Ward
Novo Nordisk is feeling good about China. In March, the pharmaceutical company behind the blockbuster diabetes-turned-weight loss drug Ozempic held its “Capital Markets Day” presentations and held a breakout session devoted to its strong showing and trajectory in China. As Maziar Mike Doustdar, head of international operations, put it “all of our competitors combined are not able to cover what we do.”
He had good reason to be cocky: Novo Nordisk’s sales of Ozempic in China doubl
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In recent years, several large Chinese companies have filed defamation suits against small organizations or individual researchers, leading to a strange reality: Even as the general rhetoric against China has become more hawkish, many in the West have grown increasingly reluctant to publicly criticize China and top Chinese companies.
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