Novo Nordisk's Ozempic and Wegovy boxes can be seen in the pharmacy.
Hollie Adams | Reuters
Shares of the Danish pharmaceutical giant New Nordisk fell more than 24% on Friday after the announcement of results from a late-stage trial of the experimental weight-loss drug CagriSema failed to meet expectations.
The maker of wildly popular obesity drug Wegovy said its new drug candidate helped patients lose weight by 22.7%, below the 25% previously predicted by CNBC.
The stock recovered some of its losses and was down about 18.8% as of 12:30 p.m. London time. Shares of a competing manufacturer of anti-obesity drugs Eli Lilly rose 10% in pre-market trading, but fell off highs to trade down about 5%.
The study's results deal a blow to expectations that CagriSema could become a next-generation anti-obesity drug. Dual injection therapy combines semaglutide, the active ingredient in Wegovy, with the amylin analogue Cagrilintide, the active ingredient in Wegovy. an emerging form of weight loss treatment.
The phase three study included approximately 3,400 people with obesity or overweight and one or more comorbidities and lasted 68 weeks.
However, in comments to CNBC, Novo stated that CagriSema outperforms Wegovy in terms of weight loss and that its effectiveness is “comparable to best-in-class treatments.”
“We are encouraged by CagriSema's weight loss profile demonstrating superiority to both semaglutide and cagrilintide monotherapy in the REDEFINE 1 trial. This was achieved despite only 57% of patients achieving the highest dose of CagriSema,” Martin Holst Lange, Executive Vice President Development at Novo Nordisk, stated in a separate press release.
“With the insights gained from the REDEFINE 1 study, we plan to further investigate the additional weight loss potential of CagriSema,” he added.
Novo added that primary and full results will be presented next year and it expects to submit the drug to regulatory authorities by the end of 2025.
Results from the second Phase 3 trial, REDEFINE 2, in adults with type 2 diabetes who are obese or overweight, are also expected in the first half of next year.
Earlier this month, the company faced another setback when a direct clinical examination found that Eli Lilly's Zepbound resulted in greater weight loss compared to Wegovy.
The Lilly-sponsored study found that Zepbound helped patients lose an average of 20.2%, or about 50 pounds, after 72 weeks, while Wegovy helped them lose an average of 13.7% over the same period. Novo said at the time that it was waiting for full data.