Boxes of Ozempic and Wegovy made by Novo Nordisk are seen at a pharmacy.
Hollie Adams | Reuters
Shares of Danish pharmaceutical big Novo Nordisk plummeted greater than 24% at one level on Friday after reporting ends in a late-stage trial for its experimental CagriSema weight reduction drug that missed expectations.
The maker of the wildly common Wegovy weight problems drug mentioned its new drug candidate helped sufferers scale back their weight by 22.7%, under the 25% it informed CNBC it had beforehand forecast.
The inventory had pared some losses to commerce down round 18.8% at 12:30 p.m. London time. Shares of rival weight problems drug maker Eli Lilly jumped 10% in pre-market commerce however got here off highs to commerce round 5% larger.
The trial outcomes deal a blow to expectations that CagriSema may change into a next-generation weight problems drug. The two-drug injectable therapy combines semaglutide, the lively ingredient in Wegovy, together with amylin analog Cagrilintide, a nascent type of weight reduction therapy.
The section three trial was primarily based on round 3,400 folks with weight problems, or who have been chubby with a number of comorbidities, and passed off over 68 weeks.
In feedback to CNBC, nonetheless, Novo mentioned that CagriSema had outperformed Wegovy in weight discount and that its efficiency was “on par with best-in-class remedies.”
“We are inspired by the burden loss profile of CagriSema demonstrating superiority over each semaglutide and cagrilintide in monotherapy within the REDEFINE 1 trial. This was achieved although solely 57% of sufferers reached the very best CagriSema dose,” Martin Holst Lange, govt vp for Development at Novo Nordisk, mentioned in a separate press launch.
“With the insights obtained from the REDEFINE 1 trial, we plan to additional discover the extra weight reduction potential of CagriSema,” he added.
Novo added that topline and full outcomes shall be offered subsequent 12 months and that it expects regulatory submission of the drug by the tip of 2025.
Results from a second section 3 trial, REDEFINE 2, primarily based on adults with kind 2 diabetes who’re both overweight or chubby, are additionally anticipated through the first half of subsequent 12 months.
The firm confronted one other setback earlier this month when a head-to-head scientific trial confirmed Eli Lilly’s Zepbound resulted in superior weight reduction in contrast with Wegovy.
The trial, sponsored by Lilly, confirmed Zepbound helped sufferers shed 20.2%, or roughly 50 kilos, on common after 72 weeks, whereas Wegovy helped them lose a lesser 13.7% on common over the identical interval. Novo mentioned on the time that it was awaiting the whole information.
