A sign at Novo Nordisk’s offices in Bagsvader, a suburb of Copenhagen, Denmark, on March 8, 2024.
Tom Little | Reuters
shares Novo Nordisk Shares of the Danish pharmaceutical giant rose on Friday after the company reported positive early-stage results for its once-weekly obesity drug amimicutin.
The trial showed that the injectable treatment led to an average weight loss of 22% in obese and overweight patients after 36 weeks. In comparison, patients who received placebo increased their weight by 2.0% during the same period.
The stock was last up 10% as of 11:43 a.m. London time, on track for its biggest one-day gain since August 2023.
Shares in Danish obesity drug maker new zealand pharmaceutical company Also higher, last up 4.7%, while Zepbound-maker Eli Lilly and Company Premarket trading was down.
Pancreatin targets the same intestinal hormone (GLP-1) that Wegovy mimics, as well as the pancreatic hormone amylin, which affects hunger. Wegovy is Novo Nordisk’s flagship obesity drug, while Ozempic is its diabetes treatment.
Amromin
The most common side effect in the trial, which was conducted on 125 overweight or obese patients, was gastrointestinal side effects, the vast majority of which were “mild to moderate in severity.”
“We are very encouraged by the Phase 1b/2a results of subcutaneous pancreatin in people with overweight or obesity,” Martin Lange, Novo Nordisk’s executive vice president of development, said in a statement.
“The results seen in the trial support the weight loss potential of this novel single-molecule GLP-1 and amylin receptor agonist pancreatin, which we have previously seen in oral formulations.”
Novo is also developing an amyretin weight loss drug. early stage trials Announced in September, the average weight loss after 12 weeks was 13.1%. The company said at the time that the treatment was safe and tolerable to patients but was associated with mild to moderate side effects.
