Novo Nordisk CEO Lars Fruergaard Jørgensen said Friday that the company’s experimental weight-loss pill, Amycretin, could eventually become a premier obesity treatment.
The Danish drugmaker is seeking to capitalize on the runaway success of its blockbuster weight-loss drug Wegovy by developing a new generation of obesity treatments, including more convenient and potentially cheaper pills.
His comments came a day after Novo Nordisk wowed investors with data from early trials of amycretin. Patients taking the pill lost about 13.1% of their weight after 12 weeks, Jørgensen said on CNBC’s “Money Movers.”
This exceeds the 6% weight loss observed in those who took Wegovy over the same period. It also adds to the growing excitement about the potential of weight loss pills.
Lars Fruergaard Jørgensen, CEO of Novo Nordisk, speaks during an interview in New York in August. 10. 2022.
Christopher Goodney | Bloomberg | Getty Images
In addition to convenience for patients, pills could help alleviate some of the supply shortages associated with weight-loss injections. Demand for Wegovy and similar drugs has surged over the past year, with temporary shortages because it can help patients lose significant weight over time.
“We believe that in the future there will be different segments of obesity treatment, with different patients having different preferences,” Jørgensen told CNBC. “Some will prefer an injection and we really think that once we can take a pill it is a very convenient option.”
But these pills won’t be coming to market anytime soon. An interim study of amycretin will begin in the second half of this year, with results expected in early 2026, the company said Thursday.
In a separate interview with Reuters on Friday, Martin Holst Lange, Novo Nordisk’s head of development, said the company was pleased to bring amycretin to market this decade.
Amycretin suppresses appetite by targeting the same gut hormone that Wegovy mimics, GLP-1. But amycretin also targets a pancreatic hormone called amylin, which influences hunger.
U.S.-traded shares of Novo Nordisk rose as much as 8.3% on Thursday after the company reported the data, extending last year’s 68% gain. But on Friday, shares of the company fell 2%.
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2024-03-08 17:51:20
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