Investing in the pharmaceutical company Novo Nordisk is not for the weak. The shares of the company behind Ozempic experienced another new atypical day on the stock market, with a gain of up to 13% on the Copenhagen Stock Exchange. The company, the second most valuable in Europe behind the luxury firm LVMH, benefits from the good data of an experimental drug, which in early-phase trials has allowed patients to register up to 22% weight loss. after 36 weeks of treatment. At the close of the day, the company’s shares rose 7.13%.
Unlike CagriSema,s, the new injection combines two weight loss mechanisms in a single molecule, known as amicretin. Novo is also studying a pill version of the compound. Even in this presentation, weight loss among users reached 13.1% after 12 weeks.
“Amicretin data is a key result after CagriSema missed expectations in the fourth quarter,” analysts at Bloomberg Intelligence. “Detailed data on tolerability, discontinuation rates and the evolution of weight loss curves are likely to generate interest when Novo presents the full results,” they say.
The news comes after pressure against Novo Nordisk increased exponentially, as analysts call for the next big evolution after its big hits (Wegovy and Ozempic), which was scheduled to hit the market in 2026. Furthermore, the Danish pharmaceutical company has to face its archrival, the American Eli Lilly, and 40 other manufacturers working on alternatives against obesity such as Pfizer, AstraZeneca and Roche, among others. The analysts’ expectation is that, if the complete study data confirms the good results, the new drug could displace a Lilly compound, retatrutide, which is currently positioned as the leader in the new generation of drugs in this segment.
For now, the firm has opted for caution and stated that “it is planning an additional clinical study” of the new drug in overweight and obese adults.
In any case, this Friday’s rise in the stock market fails to compensate for Novo Nordisk’s red numbers in recent months. In the last year, the company’s shares fell 11% although they continue to have the approval of analysts. A recent report from Bank of America highlights the “impressive” revenue growth, which reached 27% in the last year although it notes that sales in fiscal year 2024 could be at the “lower end of its forecasts.” At the same time, they point out a factor to take into account: any “deficiency” in the phase three trials of orforglipron, a molecule developed by Eli Lilly for weight loss, could cause Novo Nordisk’s titers to skyrocket by up to 15% additional.
To this we must also add the uncertain context that companies face in the United States after Robert F. Kennedy Jr., nephew of JFK, is the new head of the health agencies of the Republican administration. Famous for his rejection of Covid vaccines, the new head of the Health Department has already shown that he is not in favor of the use of drugs to control obesity either. “If we just gave good food, three meals a day, to every man, woman and child in our country, we could solve the obesity and diabetes epidemic overnight,” he commented in a television interview before the election. .
On the stock market, the biotech Zealand Pharma also stands out, which soars 8% as the Danish laboratory also develops alternatives based on the same compound.
