Novo Nordisk Q2 EBIT tops forecasts, ups 2009 view

COPENHAGEN Aug 6 (Reuters) - Danish drug maker Novo Nordisk (NOVOb.CO) reported a bigger-than-expected 44 percent rise in operating profits for the second quarter on Thursday and raised its guidance for full-year profits.

The world's biggest insulin producer said earnings before interest and tax (EBIT) rose to 4.09 billion Danish crowns ($790.6 million) in April-June from 2.85 billion in the same quarter last year.

The result beat all estimates in a Reuters poll of analysts in which the an average expectation of a rise to 3.73 billion crowns in a Reuters poll of 20 analysts.

Novo Nordisk raised its forecast for full-year operating profit growth in local currencies to 12-14 percent from an earlier projection of at least 10 percent.

It said it was in a "constructive dialogue" with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration on its Victoza drug.

(Reporting by Copenhagen newsroom)