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Novo Nordisk, one in every of Europe’s largest firms, misplaced greater than 1 / 4 of its worth on Friday after its newest weight problems drug missed the drugmaker’s purpose for a median of 25 per cent weight reduction.
CagriSema helped sufferers lose a median of twenty-two.7 per cent of their physique weight in a late-stage trial, Novo Nordisk stated on Friday, solely marginally beating the outcomes of Mounjaro, a rival therapy from Eli Lilly.
Martin Holst Lange, government vice-president for growth at Novo Nordisk, stated that solely 57 per cent of sufferers had acquired the very best dose of the drug. “We’re inspired by the weight-loss profile of CagriSema,” he stated.
The corporate’s shares had been down as a lot as 27 per cent in mid-morning buying and selling in Denmark.
Novo Nordisk and Eli Lilly are competing for dominance in a market that grew sevenfold in simply three years to $24bn in 2023, based on knowledge analytics agency Iqvia.
Novo Nordisk had hoped its “subsequent technology” weight-loss drug may lead the sphere, after its shares had struggled to maintain tempo with Eli Lilly and it suffered a setback from disappointing outcomes for an experimental weight-loss capsule in September.
“CagriSema is actually essential for us,” chief government Lars Fruergaard Jørgensen advised the Monetary Instances in November. “It’s a next-generation product and it has the potential to be finest in school.”
Sufferers receiving Mounjaro misplaced a median of twenty-two.5 per cent of their weight in section 3 trials when taken as a part of a regime of improved weight loss plan and train. These on Wegovy, additionally made by Novo Nordisk, misplaced a median of about 15 per cent in comparable situations.
About 40 per cent of sufferers within the CagriSema trial achieved 25 per cent weight reduction over the 68 weeks.
CagriSema combines semaglutide, the lively ingredient in Wegovy and Ozempic, with cagrilintide, one other hormone that makes individuals really feel fuller for longer.
The trial of three,417 individuals taking a weekly injection discovered that the most typical unintended effects had been gastrointestinal, the overwhelming majority of which had been gentle and average and diminished over time.
It is a growing story
