A view of the logo of Novo Nordisk at the company’s office in Bagsvaerd, on the outskirts of Copenhagen, Denmark, March 8, 2024.
Tom Little | Reuters
Shares of Novo Nordisk jumped Friday after the Danish pharmaceutical giant reported positive early-stage results for its once weekly amycretin obesity drug.
The trial showed that the treatment, which is administered via injection, resulted in average weight reduction of 22% in obese and overweight patients after 36 weeks. That compares to weight gain of 2.0% among patients treated with placebo over the same period of time.
Shares were last up 13.65% at 12:50 p.m. London time, putting the stock on course for its biggest daily gain since August 2023.
Shares of fellow Danish obesity drug maker Zealand Pharma also tracked higher, last up 4.7%, while Zepbound-maker Eli Lilly dipped in pre-market trade.
Amycretin targets the same gut hormone that Wegovy mimics, known as GLP-1, as well as a pancreas hormone called amylin that affects hunger. Wegovy is Novo Nordisk’s flagship obesity drug while Ozempic is its diabetes treatment.
The trial was conducted on 125 overweight or obese patients and the most common side effects were gastrointestinal, with the vast majority being “mild to moderate in severity.”
“We are very encouraged by the subcutaneous phase 1b/2a results for amycretin in people living with overweight or obesity,” Martin Lange, executive vice president for development at Novo Nordisk, said in a statement.
“The results seen in the trial support the weight lowering potential of this novel unimolecular GLP-1 and amylin receptor agonist, amycretin, that we have previously seen with the oral formulation.”
Novo is also developing an amycretin obesity pill. Early-stage trials announced in September, showed average weight loss of 13.1% after 12 weeks. The company said at the time that the treatment was safe and tolerable for patients, but included mild-to-moderate side effects.