Shares of Novo Nordisk fall as weight loss drug trial data disappoints

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Shares in Novo Nordisk fell sharply on Friday as the disappointing results of its latest drug test wiped nearly €90bn off the value of Europe’s biggest company by market capitalisation.

CagriSema helped patients lose an average of 22.7 percent of their body weight in late trials, Novo Nordisk he said on Friday, slightly beating the results of Mounjaro, Eli Lilly’s treatment.

Novo Nordisk was struggling with about 25 percent weight loss from its new drug.

Martin Holst Lange, senior vice president for development, said only 57 percent of patients received the highest dose of the drug. “We are inspired by CagriSema’s weight loss profile,” he said.

The drugmaker’s shares fell as much as 27% in morning trading in Denmark before reversing slightly to sell 20% lower, wiping about €90bn from its market capitalization.

Novo Nordisk and Eli Lilly are vying for dominance in a market that has grown sevenfold in just three years to $24bn in 2023, according to data analytics firm Iqvia.

Weight loss and diabetes drugs Wegovy and Ozempic have transformed Novo Nordisk’s fortunes, nearly tripling its value over the past five years. Barclays had already made $49bn in sales of CagriSema, in 2038, almost double the sales of Ozempic and Wegovy in 2025, their peak year.

But before the trial data was published, some investors worried that Novo Nordisk’s valuation was too high and that the obesity drug market might not be as important as expected.

Some question whether US President-elect Donald Trump’s administration will boost the weight-loss market.

Robert F Kennedy Jr, Trump’s nominee for health secretary, has been opposed to the use of drugs, rather than dietary changes, to combat obesity.

Novo Nordisk had hoped that the “next generation” weight loss drug could lead the field, after its shares struggled to keep pace with Eli Lilly and suffered disappointment over a trial of a diet pill in September.

“CagriSema is very important to us,” CEO Lars Fruergaard Jørgensen told the Financial Times in November. “It’s a next-generation product and has the potential to be successful in the classroom.”

Patients who received Mounjaro lost approximately 22.5 percent of their weight in 3 trials when it was taken as part of a healthy diet and exercise regimen. Those on Wegovy, also made by Novo Nordisk, lost about 15 percent in comparable conditions.

About 40 percent of patients in the CagriSema trial found a reduction of 25 percent at 68 weeks.

CagriSema combines semaglutide, which is used in Wegovy and Ozempic, and cagrilintide, another hormone that makes people feel fuller for longer.

A study of 3,417 people who took the weekly injection found that the most common side effects were gastrointestinal, most of which were mild and mild and tended to decrease over time.

Novo Nordisk hopes to apply for approval of the drug by the end of next year.

Shares in rivals rose, with Eli Lilly up as much as 10 percent in premarket trading, and biotechs with promising drug candidates, such as Viking Therapeutics, also rallied.

Additional reports by George Steer in London