The bottles move along a conveyor in the production facilities of Novo Nordisk A / S in Hillerod, Denmark, Monday June 12, 2023. The success of the bestsellers of Novo Ozempic and Wegovy, drugs that help people lose weight, have created a gold rush in the pharmaceutical industry with around 40 companies to develop products that intensify competition.
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Denmark’s economic growth, which, according to economists, is due to an “exceptional increase” of pharmaceutical exports, should weaken this year – but the imminent threat of American prices on the pharmaceutical industry will not really be a contributing factor, according to the International Monetary Fund.
The IMF said on Tuesday in His latest report on the Nordic country that it expects Denmark, whose economy increased by 3.7% in 2024, that its production is moderate at 2.9% this year and to 1.8% in 2026. The decreases should take place in the midst of an early weakness of export growth, including that of pharmaceuticals.
The fund has nevertheless noted that Denmark will be protected from potential American prices on pharmaceutical imports, as most Danish drug products are neither produced in the country, nor crossing its borders.
Danish drug manufacturers have become more and more dependent on a “bargaining and transformation” system in which most of the value of the drugs are attributable to the intellectual property integrated there, With medication companies that contract manufacturers in other countries to produce and ship products.
“The United States is a key trade partner; however, exports produced in Denmark, passing by customs represent only 3% of the total exports, which limits the direct impact of American tariffs on the Danish economy,” said the IMF, adding that “the direct impacts of the American tariffs are supposed to be limited, but increased tensions and risks perspectives “.
Beyond 2026, said the fund, medium-term growth is projected at around 1.5%, “reflecting a pharmaceutical sector in maturation and a decrease in the working age population”.
Last fall, IMF economists pointed out that Denmark’s growth had been driven by an “exceptional push” in its pharmaceutical industry While the rest of the economy had remained “relatively moderate”.
The Fund distinguished the Foreign demand massif of the Danish pharmaceutical giant Novo Nordisk for its diabetes and weight loss drugs, Wegovy and Ozempic, as a growth engine, noting that the sales of the company sharing Denmark GDP went from 1% in the early 1990s to 8.3% in 2023.
Imminent threat posed by Trump
A larger side wind for the broader European pharmaceutical industry is the threat of US President Donald Trump to impose tariffs on medication imports.
Pharmaceutical products have been exempt from the initial “reciprocal” “reciprocal” price of Trump announced in April, but the president has since fixed the prospect of the global industry, threatening to place separate samples from the pharmaceutical products exported to states and demanding that the prices of American drugs are falling.
Reporting his intention on the issue, Trump signed an executive decree on Monday ordering drug manufacturers to lower their prices for medicines to align with considerably lower prices that are paid abroad.
The president did not refer to specific nations, but said that he would target other developed countries because “some countries need additional help, and that’s good”.
“Basically, what we do is equalize,” Trump said at a press event on Monday. “We will pay the lowest price in the world. We will get the lowest price, this is the price we are going to get.”
Officials of the White House have not disclosed the drugs to which the order will apply, but said that it will have an impact on the commercial market as well as Medicare and Medicaid.
In 2022, the American prices of all drugs (brands and generic) were almost three times higher than prices in 33 countries of OECD comparison, According to data published in 2024 by the American Department of Health and Social Services.
President Donald Trump makes gestures the day he signs an executive decree on prescription medication pricing at a press conference in the Roosevelt room at the White House in Washington, DC, United States, May 12, 2025. Reuters / Nathan Howard
Nathan Howard | Reuters
The threat of prices on pharmaceutical imports has been described as a “sword of damocles” which drags on the European pharmaceutical industryWith CEOs warning that there could be an exodus of main continental players in the United States in order to avoid samples.
The European Federation of Pharmaceutical Industries and Associations (EFPIA), which represents large European pharmaceutical companies – including Novo Nordisk, Bayer,, Astrazeneca,, GSK,, Rock And Sanofi – warned the president of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen in April that “unless Europe offers a rapid radical policy, research, development and pharmaceutical manufacturing are increasingly likely to be directed to the United States”
He said that survey of its members showed that around 100 billion euros ($ 112 billion) in capital spending and research and development investments were in danger.
“The United States is now conducting Europe on each measure of investors in capital availability, intellectual property, from the speed of approval to the awards for innovation. In addition to the uncertainty created by the threat of prices, there is little incentive to invest in the EU and the important engines to move to the United States”, ” EFPIA said.
– Annika Kim Constantino and Karen Gilchrist of CNBC contributed to report to this story
