Wegovy trial result gives boost to Novo Nordisk amid U.S. market woes

New trial information suggests Novo Nordisk‘s weight reduction drug Wegovy edges out rival therapies on coronary heart situation threat discount, in excellent news for the Danish pharma large because it battles a spate of challenges in the important thing U.S. market.

The firm on Sunday stated that continued use of its weight administration drug semaglutide, bought to customers as Wegovy, led to a 57% larger discount within the threat of coronary heart assault, stroke or demise in folks with weight problems and heart problems or who have been chubby, in contrast with customers of tirzepatide.

Tirzepatide is the energetic ingredient in Zepbound and Mounjaro, the medication manufactured by U.S. agency Eli Lilly — Novo Nordisk’s essential rival within the battle to produce market-leading weight administration therapies.

The firm famous the outcomes got here from a real-world examine as opposed to a randomized management trial, which is the “gold standard” for evaluating therapy 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.

However, the corporate stated the examine added to “growing evidence suggesting that the heart-protective benefits seen with Wegovy are specific to the semaglutide molecule and therefore cannot be extended to other GLP-1 or GIP/GLP-1-based treatments.”

GLP-1s, or glucagon-like peptide-1 receptor agonists, refers 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 contains Novo Nordisk’s well-known semaglutide-based Ozempic, designed as a therapy for type-2 diabetes.

The large development of weight reduction drug utilization lately has lured in buyers within the ongoing hunt for each main drugs and potential new challengers.

Trial information into completely different medication’ affect on weight reduction and on a spread of different circumstances — from heart conditions, liver and Alzheimer’s disease to sleep apnea and alcohol addiction — has steadily been a catalyst for share value strikes. Traders have lately been assessing efforts by Eli Lilly and Novo Nordisk to develop oral pills for obesity, eradicating the necessity for injections.

Novo Nordisk shares have been round 3% increased on Monday.

Michael Field, chief fairness strategist at Morningstar, stated {that a} vital discount within the threat of coronary heart assaults supplied by Wegovy may very well be a possible “game changer” for Novo Nordisk, however that the Monday response indicated the market was “encouraged, but not getting carried away.”

“It’s important to remember that this is just trial data and rivals have a long history of overtaking each other again, and again. That said, the healthcare sector is one of the cheapest in Europe, with investors particularly dis-enthused by the large traditional pharma giants. This announcement just goes to show you should never underestimate the ability of these firms to innovate,” Field advised CNBC by electronic mail.

Sheena Berry, healthcare analyst at Quilter Cheviot, stated the newest coronary heart illness information may very well be a “positive development” for Novo Nordisk, however that it was not potential to “draw any firm conclusions about the comparison of Wegovy versus tirzepatide in the battle between Novo Nordisk and Eli Lilly.”

“Following a tough period, it does, however, help Novo Nordisk in terms of promotion. Consequently, shares are up today after the difficult period, and investors will be watching closely to see if such events can act as a catalyst for improvement,” Berry stated by electronic mail.

It has since misplaced that title, following share value declines of 10.6% in 2024 and 40% in 2025 to date. Denmark final week more than halved its annual financial development 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 House tariffs and U.S. President Donald Trump’s push to get firms to lower drug prices and move manufacturing stateside. Global competitors within the weight reduction house continues to develop, with corporations additionally going through the problem of copycat compounding treatments.

Novo final month reported large annual gross sales development in its second quarter earnings, however nonetheless flagged weaker second-half U.S. gross sales development forecasts and stated it might concentrate on direct-to-consumer gross sales to fight the problem of copycats.

Denmark final week more than halved its annual financial development forecast, partly citing decreased development expectations for Novo Nordisk. The nation’s financial ministry stated that, whereas corporations similar to Novo Nordisk now had extra readability on tariff charges following the EU-U.S. trade deal, there remained a “significant degree of unpredictability linked to the U.S. administration’s policy.”

Analysts told CNBC last month that European pharmaceutical shares failed to rally on the commerce deal information as a result of buyers remained cautious concerning the White House’s ongoing Section 232 investigation into the affect of varied imports on U.S. nationwide safety, together with prescription drugs.

In a notice final week, UBS analysts stated that, following the move in May by U.S. drugstore chain CVS to expand access to Wegovy, they have been “beginning to see growth potentially plateau” for the drug. That was in-line with earlier expectations “given the continued presence of compounders and relatively strong performance of Zepbound,” they added.

– CNBC’s Karen Gilchrist contributed to this story.