“Novo Nordisk shares fall nearly 5% on disappointing diet pill data Novo Nordisk fell 5% after its experimental diet pill performed worse than expected. The drug monlunabant resulted in a weight loss of only 6.5% over 16 weeks instead of the expected 15%.”, — write on: unn.ua
Details
The company announced key results from a trial of monlunabant, an experimental drug it acquired as part of its $1 billion purchase of Canadian biotech company Inversago Pharmaceuticals last year.
The company said at its capital market day in March that it expects the drug to deliver weight loss of 15% of body weight, on par with its mega-blockbuster obesity injection Wegovy.
But in the main trial results published on Friday, the once-a-day pill resulted in only 6.5% weight loss after 16 weeks.
Shares in Novo Nordisk fell 4.8% on Friday, hitting a five-week low.
Addition
Despite the lower-than-expected weight loss, Novo Nordisk said that based on the trial results, it will begin a larger phase 2b trial to further study the drug’s dosing and safety profile over a longer period of time in the global population. It expects to begin that trial next year, according to its statement.