COPENHAGEN, May 6 (Reuters) – Novo Nordisk, the maker of weight-loss drug Wegovy, on Wednesday reported first-quarter revenue and adjusted operating profit above expectations and said its outlook ‌for the year was slightly improved.

The Danish drugmaker is banking on demand for ‌its new weight-loss pill as competition with U.S. rival Eli Lilly intensifies and investors demand proof that fast-rising ​volumes can offset a bruising obesity drug price war.

Novo said its adjusted operating profit was 32.86 billion Danish crowns ($5.16 billion) in the first quarter against a mean forecast of 28.74 billion according to a company-compiled poll.

Novo Nordisk said it now expects its adjusted sales and operating profit to decline this ‌year by between 4% and ⁠12% at constant exchange rates, compared with a previous range of minus 5% to minus 13% for both variables.

“The strong Wegovy performance, combined ⁠with continued growth in International Operations, has led us to raise our 2026 guidance for both adjusted sales and adjusted operating profit,” CEO Mike Doustdar said in a statement.

Novo has spent much of ​the ​past year on the defensive, grappling with setbacks ​including disappointing trial results for its next-generation ‌obesity drug, weaker than expected sales and a share price slide that has erased more than $400 billion in market value since its 2024 peak.

Under Doustdar, who was appointed last year, Novo Nordisk is pinning a near-term recovery on its newly launched Wegovy pill, with margins already under pressure following last year’s price cuts to the group’s blockbuster weight-loss injection.

But Novo ‌Nordisk’s window as the only oral obesity pill on ​the U.S. market slammed shut in early April ​when Eli Lilly received FDA approval for ​its competing drug Foundayo, intensifying the battle with its main rival.

Novo ‌Nordisk’s share price is down almost 40% ​in the last 12 ​months, lagging Lilly’s rise of around 18% over the same period, though the stock has been slowly tracking upwards since late March on rising hopes for its ​weight-loss pill.

Rival Lilly last ‌week hiked its full-year profit and revenue forecasts as surging demand for its ​weight-loss and diabetes drugs helped offset lower prices across U.S. and international markets.

(Reporting ​by Stine Jacobsen, editing by Terje Solsvik)