Novo Nordisk's stock has fallen by over 15% after its new obesity drug fell short of rival Eli Lilly.
Those treated with a dose of Novo Nordisk’s CagriSema in a trial achieved 20.2% weight loss after 84 weeks, compared to 23.6% for Eli Lilly’s tirzepatide.
This meant that Novo Nordisk did not meet the primary endpoint of showing non-inferiority to tirzepatide, causing its stocks to plummet over 15% while Eli Lilly’s grew almost 5%.
This follows a string of disappointing announcements for Novo Nordisk. The company’s shares have fallen to their lowest level since June 2021.
Stock for the Copenhagen company has fallen 58.07% over the past 12 months.
Despite the disappointing trial results, Novo Nordisk CEO Mike Doustdar remained upbeat about CagriSema’s potential.
“We strongly believe that CagriSema has, right now, the best weight efficacy than any product currently in the market,” he said.
Novo Nordisk (CPH: NOVO-B) stock tanked 16.48% to 251.40 Danish kroner on Monday. Its market cap is 1.34 trillion Danish kroner.
Meanwhile, Eli Lilly (NYSE: LLY) stock rose 4.9% to US$1,058.56. Its market cap is US$998.60 billion.
