Shares of Danish pharma giant Novo Nordisk soared to a record high on Thursday after it reported promising data on a new weight loss pill, a sign of the company’s plans to cement its prime position in the burgeoning obesity drug market in the face of stiff competition from industry titans like Eli Lilly and an array of smaller biotech startups.
Amycretin is an oral medicine that targets the same GLP-1 hormone as other weight loss drugs like Novo’s Wegovy and Lilly’s Zepbound, as well as stimulating another hormone, amylin, which regulates hunger.Novo said amycretin appeared to be safe and well-tolerated and had a similar side effect profile to its other medicines in the field like semaglutide, the injectable GLP-1 drug sold as Ozempic for diabetes and Wegovy for weight loss.
While stressing that the trial was small, Novo’s head of development Martin Lange Holst said the promising results justify further research into the pill. He said Novo would move forward with the drug and begin a larger Phase 2 trial in the second half of this year, with results expected in early 2026.Novo is also testing a subcutaneous form of amycretin that, like Wegovy, would be delivered by regular injection. The early stage trial is ongoing and data could be released in 2025.
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