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Novo Nordisk’s new injectable obesity drugs could result in higher weight loss than both current market blockbusters, early-stage trials have found.
In newly published data, participants in the injectable amuletin trial lost an average of 24.3% of body weight at the highest dose, compared to 1.1% of placebo patients.
The result is that Danish Pharma Group competes for rival Eli Lily to secure the best successors of current bestsellers Lily Zepbound and Novo Wegovie, each causing average weight loss.
According to another early stage trial, also published Saturday in Medical Journal The Lancet, the tablet version of Amycretin caused average weight loss at the highest dose, compared to 1.2% for placebo.
Amycretin combines Novo’s Wegovy and Ozempic’s active ingredient Semaglutide with Amylin, the hormone that promotes bloating. Novo said it will pursue further trials of both oral and injectable versions of the drug.
In the first phase of Amycretin Pill exam, participants’ weight loss was not on the plateau by the end of 12 weeks, so in a longer exam or in a real life setting, there was a chance that they would lose more.
Martin Lange, Vice President of Development at Novo Nordisk, said he believes that verbal versions of the drug could lead to similar weight loss in the injectable version if patients take it longer.
He added that Amycretin appears to have “substantial weight loss potential” and is 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 Lily’s pipeline after the disappointing results in a new Cagrisema obesity drug trial caused a stock to fall late last year. Extensive data on Cagrisema will be released Sunday at the American Diabetes Association Conference.
As investors were worried about losing Lily’s Zepbound and Munjaro lead, NOVO’s shares have fallen by more than 50% over the past year, questioning whether that pipeline is as good as its rivals. Last month, the company announced it would search for alternatives to CEO Lars Flugerd Jorgensen.
Analysts are optimistic about Lily’s orfoglipron, another anti-obesity drug that caused an average weight loss of 14.7% at the highest dose over 36 weeks, according to a Phase 2 study published in 2023. Results from a more recent phase 3 trial in diabetic patients have boosted Lily’s share by more than 15%.
Novo Nordisk has already submitted an application to US drug regulators for approval of the oral version of Wegovy. This was based on trial data showing that patients taking the pill achieved an average weight loss of 16.6% over 64 weeks.
