Novo Nordisk shares rally despite setback in obesity drug trial results

Investing.com — Shares of Novo Nordisk (CSE:NOVOb) continued their upward momentum on Tuesday, rising over 5%, following gains on Monday. 

This rebound came after the company suffered a steep loss in market value late last week, shedding nearly $125 billion—around 21%—on Friday. 

The plunge was triggered by disappointing results from the REDEFINE-1 phase 3 trial of its experimental obesity drug, CagriSema.

The trial evaluated CagriSema, a combination of cagrilintide (an amylin agonist) and semaglutide (a GLP-1 receptor agonist), for its efficacy in promoting weight loss. 

While the treatment led to a total weight reduction of 22.7% after 68 weeks, the placebo-adjusted result stood at 20.3%.

Although this was an improvement over the individual components—cagrilintide achieving 11.8% and semaglutide reaching 16.1%—the results fell short of expectations. 

Novo Nordisk had modeled a 25% weight loss, raising concerns about the drug’s prospects as a potential top-tier obesity treatment.

The trial also pointed to challenges with dose escalation, as only 57% of participants had reached the highest dose by the study’s conclusion. 

Adverse events, primarily mild to moderate gastrointestinal issues, were noted but did not appear severe enough to derail its safety profile.