Novo Nordisk A/S Raises Targets for Victoza and Insulin Demand

Danish drugmaker Novo Nordisk raised its full-year guidance on Thursday after a rise in sales of diabetes drug Victoza and synthetic insulins boosted second-quarter sales and operating profit, beating forecasts. Novo, the world's biggest insulin producer, said sales of Victoza jumped 83 percent and sales of modern insulins -- synthetic rather than human hormones -- grew 23 percent, both exceeding forecasts. The company is benefiting from a boom in diabetes treatments linked to growing obesity rates worldwide. "It is a very strong result which clearly exceed expectations that were already high," said Sydbank analyst Soren Hansen.

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