Next-generation weight loss drug fails

World domination plans of drug giant Novo Nordisk have hit a bump in the road.

The Danish company has become of the world’s fastest growing corporations with its weight loss drug sensation, Wegovy—but results from trials of its next generation obesity therapy, CagriSema, have been disappointing.

The news wiped $125 bn from the value of the company in just one day, making it one of the biggest ever one-day wipeouts on stock markets.

CagriSema had been trumpeted as the future of obesity therapy—but late-stage trials revealed the drug achieved weight loss of around 22 percent after 68 months, which made it no more effective than Wegovy’s rival, Eli Lilly’s Zepbound, marketed as Mounjaro.

In the phase 3 trial, 3,400 people with a BMI (body mass index) of 30 or above were injected with CagriSema every week for nearly six years, and more than half were on the highest dose towards the end of the trial.

The participants reported similar adverse reactions seen with Wegovy, including gastrointestinal problems.

The results are a big blow to Novo Nordisk, which had achieved a market capitalisation of $460 bn on the back of the Wegovy phenomenon.  But last December Eli Lilly stole some of its thunder when it demonstrated its Mounjaro alternative was more effective, achieving a 23 percent weight loss.

CagriSema was supposed to be Novo Nordisk’s answer, and one that would outperform Mounjaro.

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