Novo Nordisk Reports Strong CagriSema Weight Loss Results

COPENHAGEN: (News Desk) –Novo Nordisk said its next-generation experimental weight-loss drug CagriSema produced an average weight reduction of 12.4% in a late-stage trial involving people with diabetes, exceeding the results reported for Eli Lilly’s rival treatment.

CagriSema is being developed as a potential successor to Novo Nordisk’s blockbuster weight-loss medicine Wegovy, whose patents are expected to begin expiring after 2030. The Danish pharmaceutical company is looking to strengthen its position in the rapidly expanding obesity-treatment market.

The latest findings come after CagriSema failed to match Lilly’s Zepbound in a head-to-head obesity trial earlier this year, creating a setback for Novo Nordisk in its competition with Lilly.

CagriSema is administered once a week and combines cagrilintide, which works by mimicking the pancreatic hormone amylin, with semaglutide, the active ingredient in Wegovy.

During its capital markets day on Monday, Novo Nordisk outlined plans for a multi-year rollout of its next-generation obesity treatments, with the company targeting an early launch of CagriSema next year.

Novo Nordisk’s US-listed shares fell more than 4% in premarket trading as analysts raised questions about the company’s pricing power and dealmaking strategy amid the approaching patent expiries.

In the latest late-stage study involving patients with diabetes, Novo said its 1 mg CagriSema dose achieved greater weight loss than Eli Lilly’s 5 mg tirzepatide dose. Tirzepatide is the active ingredient in Lilly’s diabetes treatment Mounjaro and obesity drug Zepbound, which produced a 9.1% weight reduction in the study.

BMO analyst Evan Seigerman said the low-dose results were encouraging but noted that their impact was limited because higher doses of CagriSema had previously been shown to produce less weight loss than tirzepatide in people with obesity.

Novo Nordisk also said CagriSema achieved a non-inferior reduction in blood sugar levels compared with tirzepatide among patients with diabetes.

In a separate late-stage trial involving adults with obesity, CagriSema produced a 21% weight reduction at a 1.0 mg dose compared with placebo.

The US Food and Drug Administration is expected to decide in the fourth quarter on Novo Nordisk’s application seeking approval of CagriSema for weight management.