Danish pharmaceutical giant Novo Nordisk announced Wednesday that it would cut 11 percent of its workforce, as the maker of Ozempic and Wegovy faces rising competition for its anti-obesity treatments.

The drug maker said in a statement it would save eight billion kroner ($1.3 billion) by slashing 9,000 jobs, including 5,000 in Denmark, across the company.

And for the third time this year, the company lowered its earnings forecast -- it now expects operating profit growth of between four and 10 percent, down from 10-16 percent previously.

Novo Nordisk said the job cuts were part of a "company-wide transformation to simplify its organisation, improve the speed of decision-making, and reallocate resources towards the company’s growth opportunities in diabetes and obesity".

The popularity

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