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Shortages of weight-loss drugs will continue for years, according to obesity jab maker Novo Nordisk, as countries race to stock up on the treatments.
Danish pharmaceutical company Novo said sales of its obesity and diabetes treatments ballooned by 36pc in the first nine months of the year, hitting almost £18bn. It meant overall, sales were up 29pc at £19.5bn.
Novo said it was “very satisfied” with the growth, which came as it tightens its grip on the anti-obesity market.
Surging demand for the treatments propelled Novo to become Europe’s most valuable company earlier this year, briefly surpassing luxury giant Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton SE, commonly referred to as LVMH.
The Louis Vuitton owner has since tipped higher.
Novo’s focus has been on the US market, where 95pc of its sales are, although the company has also launched its obesity injections in Denmark, Germany and the UK.
The weight-loss treatment known as Wegovy can help patients lose 15pc of their weight, according to trial data.
It has been linked to high-profile figures including Elon Musk, Jeremy Clarkson and Boris Johnson, all of whom have credited the treatment for their weight loss.
However, many patients are struggling to get their hands on the injections, with Novo bosses suggesting the company was adopting a gradual approach to scaling up manufacturing.
In an interview with Reuters, Novo chief financial officer Karsten Munk Knudsen said it was looking to ramp up supplies in the US, with plans to sell “significantly more” of its weight-loss injections this year compared to last.
He added that the company was not, however, expecting to be able to keep up with surging interest across the world.
Mr Knudsen said: “Given the unmet need in society for safe and efficacious obesity treatments, we will not be able to supply to the full global market for a number of years.”
His comments come around two months after the treatments became available in the UK, although most chemists were still waiting for supplies on the first day it could be bought in the country.
Novo chief executive Lars Fruergaard Jørgensen declined to say when supply issues may ease, but added: “We don’t see a ‘hockey stick’ development where suddenly there’ll just be a significant ramp-up in sales.”
Demand for the weight loss drugs helped propel operating profits 31pc higher to £8.9bn.
Novo sells another version of the treatment, semaglutide, under the name Ozempic to treat type two diabetes. Sales of the diabetes drugs bounced 45pc in the first nine months of the year.
Shares in Novo were up 4pc on Thursday, as investors cheered signs of robust demand. Its value has already almost doubled over the past year to around $348bn (£285bn).