A mix picture reveals an injection pen of Zepbound, Eli Lilly’s weight reduction drug, and containers of Wegovy, made by Novo Nordisk.
Hollie Adams | Reuters
New trial knowledge suggests Novo Nordisk’s weight reduction drug Wegovy edges out rival remedies on coronary heart situation danger discount, in excellent news for the Danish pharma big because it battles a spate of challenges in the important thing U.S. market.
The corporate on Sunday mentioned that continued use of its weight administration drug semaglutide, bought to customers as Wegovy, led to a 57% larger discount within the danger of coronary heart assault, stroke or dying in individuals with weight problems and heart problems or who have been obese, in contrast with customers of tirzepatide.
Tirzepatide is the lively ingredient in Zepbound and Mounjaro, the medicine manufactured by U.S. agency Eli Lilly — Novo Nordisk’s predominant rival within the battle to supply market-leading weight administration remedies.
The corporate famous the outcomes got here from a real-world examine versus a randomized management trial, which is the “gold customary” for evaluating remedy efficacy. The variety of sufferers recording such occasions was additionally very low, reaching 0.1% for these utilizing Wegovy and 0.4% for these on tirzepatide.
Nevertheless, the corporate mentioned the examine added to “rising proof suggesting that the heart-protective advantages seen with Wegovy are particular to the semaglutide molecule and subsequently can’t be prolonged to different GLP-1 or GIP/GLP-1-based remedies.”
GLP-1s, or glucagon-like peptide-1 receptor agonists, refers back to the vary of medicines used to deal with type-2 diabetes and weight problems by mimicking hormones produced within the intestine to suppress an individual’s urge for food and regulate blood sugar. That features Novo Nordisk’s well-known semaglutide-based Ozempic, designed as a remedy for type-2 diabetes.
The large progress of weight reduction drug utilization lately has lured in traders within the ongoing hunt for each main medicines and potential new challengers.
Trial knowledge into totally different medicine’ affect on weight reduction and on a spread of different situations — from coronary heart situations, liver and Alzheimer’s illness to sleep apnea and alcohol habit — has often been a catalyst for share worth strikes. Merchants have lately been assessing efforts by Eli Lilly and Novo Nordisk to develop oral tablets for weight problems, eradicating the necessity for injections.
Novo Nordisk shares have been round 3% larger on Monday.
Michael Area, chief fairness strategist at Morningstar, mentioned {that a} important discount within the danger of coronary heart assaults supplied by Wegovy may very well be a possible “sport changer” for Novo Nordisk, however that the Monday response indicated the market was “inspired, however not getting carried away.”
“It is essential to do not forget that that is simply trial knowledge and rivals have an extended historical past of overtaking one another once more, and once more. That mentioned, the healthcare sector is likely one of the least expensive in Europe, with traders notably dis-enthused by the massive conventional pharma giants. This announcement simply goes to indicate you need to by no means underestimate the flexibility of those corporations to innovate,” Area informed CNBC by e-mail.
Sheena Berry, healthcare analyst at Quilter Cheviot, mentioned the most recent coronary heart illness knowledge may very well be a “optimistic growth” for Novo Nordisk, however that it was not attainable to “draw any agency conclusions in regards to the comparability of Wegovy versus tirzepatide within the battle between Novo Nordisk and Eli Lilly.”
“Following a tricky interval, it does, nevertheless, assist Novo Nordisk when it comes to promotion. Consequently, shares are up at this time after the troublesome interval, and traders will likely be watching intently to see if such occasions can act as a catalyst for enchancment,” Berry mentioned by e-mail.
Novo Nordisk’s U.S. struggles
The large success of Wegovy and Ozempic propelled Novo Nordisk to the highest of Europe’s largest listed corporations in late 2023, with a lot of the momentum pushed by the corporate’s enlargement within the U.S.
It has since misplaced that title, following share worth declines of 10.6% in 2024 and 40% in 2025 to this point. Denmark final week greater than halved its annual financial progress forecast, partly citing Novo’s declining U.S. market share and expectations for decrease pharmaceutical exports.
Novo Nordisk has been swept up in sector uncertainty round White Home tariffs and U.S. President Donald Trump’s push to get corporations to decrease drug costs and transfer manufacturing stateside. World competitors within the weight reduction house continues to develop, with corporations additionally dealing with the problem of copycat compounding remedies.
Novo final month reported enormous annual gross sales progress in its second quarter earnings, however nonetheless flagged weaker second-half U.S. gross sales progress forecasts and mentioned it might give attention to direct-to-consumer gross sales to fight the problem of copycats.
Denmark final week greater than halved its annual financial progress forecast, partly citing diminished progress expectations for Novo Nordisk. The nation’s financial ministry mentioned that, whereas corporations comparable to Novo Nordisk now had extra readability on tariff charges following the EU-U.S. commerce deal, there remained a “important diploma of unpredictability linked to the U.S. administration’s coverage.”
Analysts informed CNBC final month that European pharmaceutical shares did not rally on the commerce deal information as a result of traders remained cautious in regards to the White Home’s ongoing Part 232 investigation into the affect of assorted imports on U.S. nationwide safety, together with prescription drugs.
In a notice final week, UBS analysts mentioned that, following the transfer in Could by U.S. drugstore chain CVS to increase entry to Wegovy, they have been “starting to see progress doubtlessly plateau” for the drug. That was in-line with earlier expectations “given the continued presence of compounders and comparatively robust efficiency of Zepbound,” they added.
– CNBC’s Karen Gilchrist contributed to this story.
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