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The boxes of Ozempic and Wegovy made by Novo Nordisk are seen in a pharmacy.
Hollie Adams | Reuters
Shares of the Danish pharmaceutical giant Novo Nordisk fell more than 24% at one point on Friday after reporting results in a late-stage trial for its experimental weight loss drug CagriSema that missed expectations.
The maker of popular obesity drug Wegovy said its new drug candidate helped patients reduce their weight by 22.7%, down from the 25% it told CNBC it had previously predicted .
The stock had recovered some losses to trade about 17.9% at 12:05 pm London time. Shares of rival obesity drug maker Eli Lilly jumped 10% in pre-market trade, but slipped 5% in midday trade in London.
The trial results deal a blow to expectations that CagriSema could become a next-generation obesity drug. The two-drug injectable treatment combines semaglutide, the active ingredient in Wegovy, with the amylin analog Cagrilintide, a nascent form of weight loss treatment.
In comments to CNBC, however, Novo said that CagriSema had surpassed Wegovy in weight reduction and that its performance was “on par with best-in-class treatments.”
“We are encouraged by the weight loss profile of CagriSema showing superiority over semaglutide and cagrilintide in monotherapy in the REDEFINE 1 trial. This was achieved even though only 57% of patients reached the highest dose of CagriSema”, Martin Holst Lange, executive vice president. for Development at Novo Nordisk, said in a separate press release.
“With the insights gained from the REDEFINE 1 trial, we intend to further explore the additional weight loss potential of CagriSema,” he added.
This is breaking news. Please check back for updates.
