Peter Verdult: Peter Verdult here from Citi. Just two questions. Favorite topics for you both, supply and pricing. Sorry to test your patients, but starting with Karsten, you’ve consistently stated that scaling supply is management’s number one priority. With that in mind, can we peak it a bit more beyond 2024? When we think about you opening the taps and quadrupling starter doses for Wegovy, is that a nod to supply capacity in 2025 being a multiple of 2024? I realize I’m pushing my luck here, but some sense would be helpful. And then just for Lars or Camilla, I mean we’re seeing with flow and select and HFpEF, the data support increasing use of Sema continues to grow, but we are also now seeing the backlash, in the U.S. Danish authorities wanting to step out of Ozempic after SGLT-2.
They are lowering the price of Ozempic 30% in Denmark. So the question is, just a sort of follow on from the previous one. I’m not interested in pricing for the next few quarters, but how do you think about just the dynamics going forward as people try and manage their budgets? I mean, the demand is clearly there. It’s a case where we should expect a step-up in pricing erosion, but put simply, the volume opportunity is so great that any pricing concerns get fully offset. I just want to understand how you are thinking about that dynamic. Thank you.
Daniel Bohsen : Thanks, Pete. So first Karsten, Pete’s pushing his luck on supply in the coming years.
Karsten Munk Knudsen: Yeah, so guiding for supply in 2025 at the Q1 call 2024 I think is stretching it a bit. So let me give you a couple of boundaries. So from a finished point of view, then we continue to scale the single dose platform that we have launched in the U.S. So that is ongoing and something we’re driving each and every day. So of course, we’ll continue to scale that. And then on top of that, which we’re also out saying today, that as of now we have launched in nine countries beyond the U.S, Wegovy. So the ramp up ex-U.S. will also be taking pace over this year, but also into next year. So net-net, yes, there will be a good ramp into 2025. The exact amount and factors and all that, we’ll have to get back to you on that one at a later point in time.
Daniel Bohsen : Thank you, Karsten. Lars?
Lars Fruergaard Jørgensen: Yeah, thanks Pete for the question on how we see the pricing dynamics. I would say when we launched semaglutide, both in type 2 diabetes and in obesity, it was into an established price point in the market. And we launched at a similar pricing as prior generations, despite the fact of a significantly better clinical profile. And obviously, that was an attractive value proposition, and that has led to significant volume growth because of the benefits. And right now, we have a situation where you can say both, that volume is to some degree putting strains on healthcare systems. But at the same time, we are just starting to unfold the full value of patients being on this treatment. And these same healthcare systems are significantly burdened by chronic diseases, and many of them linked to the exact diseases we’re treating here.
So I think I’m optimistic about how we can communicate the value to the healthcare systems of these interventions. I’m very optimistic about the underlying, say, willingness among both patients and physicians to use these medicines. And then of course, we see very different markets. In the U.S. we see typically year-over-year slight erosion in net price. In other markets it’s more of a stable nature, and you have sometimes one-offs. So in that overall equation, I’m actually very confident that we can manage to articulate the value of medicines at a price point that’s also understood by the healthcare systems, and with the continued volume opportunity, this turns into a very attractive commercial model. Thank you.
Daniel Bohsen : Thank you, Lars, and thanks Pete for the questions. We are ready for the next question.
Operator: Thank you. We will now go to your next question. One moment, please. And your next question comes from the line of Simon Baker from Redburn Atlantic. Please go ahead.
Simon Baker: Thank you for taking my questions. Firstly, another one on pricing, if I may. Lars, you indicated that the pricing impact that you’ve seen in Q1 is effectively channel mix. I just wondered if you could confirm that and apportion the amount of pricing that is down to channel mix and how much is down to pricing reductions within specific channels. And then the second question on a completely different subject. I just wonder if you could give us any commentary on the FTC’s recent challenge to Orange Book patent listing, of which you were one of the named companies. Any idea on the timeline over which this will play out? Thanks so much.
A- Daniel Bohsen : Good. Thank you, Simon. So Karsten, I think I will give both of them to you. First, the pricing in Q1 and then the second, the FTC challenge of patents.
Karsten Munk Knudsen: Yes. Simon, thanks for these questions. So as we’ve been saying earlier on, one should always be careful of over-interpreting pricing in individual quarters, so to be more specific. Then on Ozempic, like-for-like, we do see continued reduction in the price. And then yes, we have some growth to net benefit in the first quarter, but over the full year, you should like-for-like see a net price reduction for Ozempic in the U.S. And the same goes for Wegovy, back to the volume opportunity, but net-net, given increasing volume and competition, net pricing like-for-like will be down in the U.S. And then as to the FTC letter on patents, I believe that was the question.
Daniel Bohsen : That was the question, yes.
Karsten Munk Knudsen: So, the FTC question on the patents, it’s important to note, first of all the patents in question are related to Ozempic, Victoza and Saxenda, but we’re talking about device patents first of all, and we’re talking about patents that are valid and granted by the U.S. Patent Office. The question is all about whether they should be listed in the Orange Book or not. And of course, when we listed the patents, we carefully assessed whether we are following the appropriate protocol per FDA and sought guidance and feedback on that. So, all we believe that what we have done is appropriate, but of course, we’ll follow the regulations as issued by the FDA.
Simon Baker: Thank you so much.
A- Daniel Bohsen : Thank you, Karsten. Thank you, Simon. And we are ready for the next question, please.
Operator: Thank you. We will now go to the next question. One moment, please. And your next question comes from the line of Florent Cespedes from Bernstein. Please go ahead.
