Unlock the Editor’s Digest for free
Roula Khalaf, Editor of the FT, selects her favourite stories in this weekly newsletter.
Shares in Novo Nordisk fell on Monday on a second set of worse than expected trial results for the latest obesity drug from the manufacturer of blockbuster treatments Ozempic and Wegovy.
The trial of CagriSema in patients who were obese or overweight and with type 2 diabetes failed to show a clear superiority to a drug from rival Eli Lilly, analysts said. The CagriSema group had an average weight loss of 15.7 per cent of their body weight after 68 weeks on the drug, compared with 3.1 per cent for a group that took a placebo, Novo Nordisk said.
Novo’s share price fell 8 per cent on Monday, having previously dived in December after a late-stage trial of CagriSema in overweight or obese people without diabetes found they lost an average of 22.7 per cent of their body weight. That was only marginally ahead of results for Mounjaro, an existing rival treatment made by Eli Lilly.
CagriSema had “again underperformed expectations” by failing to surpass Zepbound, another Lilly drug, according to a note published by William Blair Equity Research.
“Heading into the readout, we had believed that adults living with both overweight or obesity and type 2 diabetes represent the patient segment for which CagriSema has the best chance to outperform Zepbound,” the note said. “Therefore, we believe today’s results are especially disappointing.”
Novo Nordisk remains upbeat about CagriSema, its flagship successor medicine in the lucrative weight loss market. Chief executive Lars Fruergaard Jørgensen has previously said the drug is “really important” for the company.
The latest results “confirmed the superior efficacy of CagriSema in people with overweight or obesity and type 2 diabetes”, said Martin Holst Lange, Novo Nordisk’s executive vice-president for development.
The trial examined the effects of a weekly injection of CagriSema versus a placebo, in a group of 1,200 participants with a mean baseline body weight of 102kg. Patients were allowed to vary their drug intake, with 61.9 per cent of them ending the trial on the maximum dosage.
Almost 90 per cent of the CagriSema patients achieved a weight loss of 5 per cent or more, compared with just over 30 per cent of those on the placebo.
According to Evan David Seigerman of BMO Capital Markets, the results leave the company still searching for the next big breakthrough after semaglutide, the active ingredient in Ozempic and Wegovy.
“Today’s readout continues to pressure the story for Novo shares as investors look for the company to identify a clear path of succession beyond semaglutide,” he wrote.
Separately, Swiss pharmaceuticals company Roche has hired a senior Novo Nordisk executive as it aims to boost its planned entry into the obesity drugs market.
Morten Lammert will join Roche in June in the new role of global therapeutic area head for cardiovascular, renal and metabolism, the company said, according to Bloomberg.
