Novo Nordisk's CagriSema Weight Loss Trial Results

By Maggie Fick and Jacob Gronholt-Pedersen
LONDON/COPENHAGEN (Reuters)

Novo Nordisk announced on Friday that its next-generation obesity drug, CagriSema, resulted in a 22.7% weight loss after a late-stage trial, falling short of its expected 25%. This news impacted the company's market value, losing approximately $125 billion.

This reduced efficacy is a setback for Novo Nordisk’s ambitions to develop a stronger alternative to its successful weight-loss medication Wegovy, particularly in competition with Eli Lilly's rival product, Zepbound (Mounjaro). Investors had been closely monitoring the trial results to gauge Novo's drug pipeline strength in the competitive anti-obesity sector. Following the announcement, Novo's share price plummeted 27%, hitting lows not seen since August 2023, while shares of U.S. competitor Lilly rose over 7% in pre-market trading.

The trial, which included around 3,400 participants with a BMI of 30 or higher (or 27 with weight-related conditions), noted that overall adherence to CagriSema treatment led to a 22.7% weight reduction after 68 weeks, with 40.4% achieving a 25% or more loss.

Martin Holst Lange, Novo's executive vice president for development, expressed encouragement from the data, noting that only 57% of participants reached the highest dosage. He mentioned plans to explore CagriSema's potential for additional weight loss.

CagriSema, a weekly injection, combines semaglutide from Wegovy with cagrilintide, which imitates amylin. This combination works by suppressing hunger and managing blood glucose levels, with the trial showing similar side effects to existing GLP-1 medications, mostly mild gastrointestinal issues that improved over time.

The successful launch of Wegovy solidified Novo as Europe’s largest company by market cap, valued over $460 billion. However, concerns regarding its competitive edge in the obesity market have increased, given the performance of rival Lilly’s products, which have demonstrated nearly 23% average weight loss in their trials.