Novo Nordisk boosted by Victoza sales

Novo Nordisk has beaten forecasts with its third-quarter operating profit, as sales of its diabetes treatment Victoza more than doubled.

The company's third-quarter earnings before interest and tax stood at 5.6 billion Danish crowns (645.5 million pounds), up from 5.1 billion crowns in the same quarter of 2010.

This exceeded the average analyst estimate of 5.3 billion crowns taken from a Reuters poll.

Sales of Victoza, which stimulates the body's own insulin production to treat type 2 diabetes, rose to 1.5 billion crowns.

Novo Nordisk has now updated its full-year outlook for 2011, with operating profit growth expected to be between 17 percent and 19 percent.

"We are pleased to see our key products, NovoRapid, Levemir and Victoza, continue to drive strong underlying sales growth," said Lars Rebien Sorensen, the firm's president and chief executive.

During the quarter, the company also filed regulatory dossiers for the new-generation insulins Degludec and DegludecPlus with regulatory authorities in Europe and the US.