Investing.com — Shares of Novo Nordisk A/S, the Danish pharmaceutical company, fell significantly following the release of lower-than-expected results from a study of its experimental obesity drug, CagriSema. The drug was expected to help patients lose 25% of their weight, a goal not met in the study.
Patients who consistently used CagriSema for 68 weeks lost an average of 22.7% of their weight. However, when the sample was expanded to include those who stopped taking the drug, the average weight loss dropped to 20.4%. Both results were less than the expected weight loss of 25%.
The lower-than-expected results led to Novo’s shares plummeting nearly 28%. The company’s shares are now down 17% since the beginning of the year, following an earlier rise due to the success of Novo’s Wegovy weight-loss treatment. The drop in stock price temporarily wiped more than $120 billion off Novo’s market value.
By contrast, shares of Eli Lilly & Co., a competing pharmaceutical company and maker of the weight-loss drug Zepbound, jumped 10% following the update.
The CagriSema trial was one of the most anticipated in the pharmaceutical industry this year. Novo Nordisk was counting on CagriSema’s success to maintain its competitive edge in the rapidly growing weight loss market, which is expected to reach nearly $130 billion by 2030.
Novo’s existing blockbuster drugs mimic the gut hormone GLP-1, with CagriSema adding a second mode of action. The additional compound, cagrilintide, works similarly to another gut hormone, amylin. Both the existing and new drugs suppress appetite, with amylin providing a gentler experience than a GLP-1 drug, helping individuals stay full for longer periods.
The study included about 3,400 participants and compared the effects of CagriSema with a placebo and with semaglutide, Novo’s blockbuster drug sold under the brand names Wegovy and Ozempic, when used as a treatment for diabetes. People who took semaglutide lost an average of 16.1 percent of their weight in the study.
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