It’s getting harder to claim success with weight reduction drugs
Live MintIn a new study, an experimental obesity drug from Novo Nordisk, CagriSema allowed people to lose more than 20% of their body weight, on average, a result that caused the Danish company’s stock price to fall by as much as 29%. CagriSema is a combination of the GLP-1 agonist semaglutide, the ingredient found in Novo’s Ozempic and Wegovy, and cagrilintide, which mimics two hormones, amylin and calcitonin, that also help control feelings of satiety. Earlier, Lilly said that Zepbound handily beat Wegovy in a head-to-head trial of the two drugs, with its drug offering 20% weight loss compared with Wegovy’s 14%. Between those two issues, “the underwhelming result will likely pressure consensus, which sees the asset driving almost 20% of Novo’s sales in 2030," Bloomberg Intelligence analysts said following the news.