30 January 2012 - The Type 2 diabetes medicine Victoza of Danish Novo Nordisk A/S (CPH:NOVO B) will face strong competition in the US from the recently-approved Bydureon, Danish newswire Ritzau Finans said on Monday, citing Sydbank's analyst Soren Lontoft Hansen.

US Amylin Pharmaceuticals Inc (NASDAQ:AMLN) and its Irish partner Alkermes Inc (NASDAQ:ALKS) last Friday obtained approval from the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for their glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1) agonist Bydureon, which is administered once a week.

Victoza, also in the GLP-1 class, needs to be taken once a day and competing with its rival will therefore be a significant challenge, Hansen pointed out. He said it would be hard for Novo Nordisk to keep its US market share and would see it fall to 40-45% from the current 54%.

However, the market expands all the time and there is enough place for several players, the analyst added.