The Danish multinational pharmaceutical company, Novo Nordisk's stock has plummeted 15%, after it revealed its next-generation weight loss drug did not meet its key goal of showing that it was not inferior to Eli Lilly's rival drug.
Novo issued a statement Monday morning, giving out the details of the trial. The statement said that the drug, CargiSema, could not achieve its primary endpoint of demonstrating non-inferiority on weight loss. The Novo durg was in competition with Eli Lilly's rival drug Trizepatide, after 84 weeks.
Lilly's mega blockbuster medicines, Mounjaro and Zepbound, have Tirzepatide as an active ingredient. These drugs, sold as Ozempic and Wegoy in the United States, have overtaken Nordisk's Semaglutide.
Also Read: Novo's Launch Of Weight-Loss Pill Spoiled By Hims' Copycat
Following these results the Novo's Copenhagen-listed shares were seen down 15%, and were trading at 256 Danish Kroner. Thestock has hit its lowest level since June 2021.
Meanwhile, buoyed by the news, Eli Lilly's stock has risen 3.5% in pre-market trading.
The results:
Novo has maintained that patients taking a 2.4 mg dose of CargiSema were able to achieve a weight loss of 23%, after 84 weeks, compared to a 25.5% weight loss with a 15 mg dose of Tirzepatide.
“We (Novo) are exploring additional trials to test CargiSema, including higher dose combinations,” the statement said, “We have high hopes for the drug, which combines Semaglutide and Cagrilintide.”
Chief Scientific Officer at Novo, Martin Holst Lange, said that CargiSema has the potential to be the first GLP-1/amylin-combination product to reach the market. “Cargrilintide adds to the existing benefits of Eamaglutide and offers a clinically meaningful additive,” he said, “further trials would assess the full weight-loss potential of CargiSema.”
Earlier this month, Novo predicted that its sales and profit growth would decline by between 5% and 13% in 2026, as the company navigates competition, lower prices in the U.S., and the loss of exclusivity for Wegovy and Ozempic in certain markets.
Also Read: Eli Lilly Eyes India As Global Mounjaro Export Hub Amid Soaring Demand For Weight-Loss Drug
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