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Novo Nordisk’s new injectable obesity drug has the potential to deliver higher weight loss than both of the current market blockbusters, an early stage trial has found.
In newly-published data, participants in the trial of injectable amycretin lost an average of 24.3 per cent of their body weight on the highest dose, compared with 1.1 per cent for those on a placebo.
The results come as the Danish pharma group races rival Eli Lilly to secure the best successor to the current best sellers — Lilly’s Zepbound and Novo’s Wegovy, which respectively cause average weight loss of 22.5 and 15 per cent.
According to another early-stage trial also published in medical journal The Lancet on Saturday, a tablet version of amycretin caused average weight loss of 13.1 per cent on the highest dose, compared with 1.2 per cent for the placebo.
Amycretin combines semaglutide, the active ingredient in Novo’s Wegovy and Ozempic, with amylin, a hormone that promotes a feeling of fullness. Novo said it would pursue further trials of both the oral and the injectable version of the drug.
In the first-phase trial of the amycretin pill, participants’ weight loss did not plateau by the end of the 12 weeks, so in a longer trial or real life setting, they could lose more.
Martin Lange, Novo Nordisk executive vice-president of development, said he believes the oral version of the drug may deliver similar weight loss to the injectable version, if patients take it for longer.
He added that amycretin seems to have “substantial weight loss potential”, bolstering Novo’s portfolio of anti-obesity drugs. Evan Seigerman, an analyst at BMO Capital Markets, said amycretin looks “promising”.
Novo is trying to convince investors that its pipeline can compete with Lilly’s, after a disappointing result in trials of its new CagriSema obesity medication sent its shares tumbling late last year. More extensive data on CagriSema will be presented on Sunday at the American Diabetes Association conference.
Shares in Novo have fallen more than 50 per cent in the past year, as investors worried it was losing its lead to Lilly’s Zepbound and Mounjaro, and questioned if its pipeline was as good as its rival’s. Last month, the company announced it would search for a replacement for its chief executive Lars Fruergaard Jørgensen.
Analysts are optimistic about Lilly’s orforglipron, another anti-obesity pill, which caused average weight loss of 14.7 per cent at the highest dose over 36 weeks, according to a phase 2 study published in 2023. The results of a more recent phase 3 trial in diabetic patients pushed Lilly’s shares up more than 15 per cent.
Novo Nordisk has already submitted an application for the approval of an oral version of Wegovy to the US drug regulator. That was based on trial data that showed patients taking the pill achieved an average of 16.6 per cent weight loss over 64 weeks.
