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Shares in Novo Nordisk fell on Monday in a second group worse than the expected test results for the latest overweight medicine from the Ozepic and Wegovy block manufacture.
Cagrisema trial in patients who were thick or overweight and with type 2 diabetes failed to show a clear superiority over a drug from rival Eli Lilly, analysts said. The Cagrisema group had an average weight loss of 15.7 percent of their body weight after 68 weeks in the drug, compared to 3.1 percent for a group that took a placebo, Novo Nordisk said.
Novo’s action fell 8 percent on Monday, as it was previously immersed in December after a late -stage trial of Cagrisema in people with overweight or obese without diabetes found that they lost on average 22.7 percent of their body weight. This was only marginally ahead of the results for Mounjaro, an existing rival treatment made by Eli Lilly.
Cagrisema had “again underestimated expectations” failing to exceed Zepbound, another Lilly drug, according to a note published by William Blair Equity Research.
“Starting in reading, we believed that adults living with overweight or overweight and type 2 diabetes represent the patient’s segment for which Cagrisema has the best chance of overcoming zepbound,” the note said. “Therefore, we believe that today’s results are particularly disappointing.”
Novo Nordisk remains optimistic about Cagrisema, his subsequent flag medicine in the lucrative weight loss market. Chief Executive Lars Fruerargaard Jørgensen has previously said that the drug is “really important” for the company.
The latest results “confirmed the high efficiency of Cagrisema in people with overweight or overweight and type 2 diabetes,” said Martin Holst Lange, Novo Nordisk Deputy Chairman for Development.
The trial examined the effects of a weekly injection of Cagrisema against a placebo, in a group of 1,200 participants with an average weight of 102 kg. Patients were allowed to change their drug intake, with 61.9 percent of them terminating the maximum dose.
Almost 90 percent of patients with Cagrisema reached a weight loss of 5 percent or more, compared to just over 30 percent of those in the placebo.
According to Evan David Seigerman of the BMO Capital Markets, the results leave the company that still requires future major progress after semaglutide, active ingredient in Ozepic and Wegovy.
“Today’s reading continues to pressure Novo shares as investors seek the company to identify a clear way of success beyond Semaglutide,” he wrote.
