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Novo Nordisk has said a trial for its once-a-week weight loss injection has fallen short of its target, sending the Danish drugmaker’s shares 10 per cent lower on Monday.
The 84-week trial found that Novo’s CagriSema achieved a weight loss of 23 per cent compared with 25.5 per cent with tirzepatide, which is used in treatments made by rival Eli Lilly.
Novo has endured a challenging year marked by a sliding share price, a board exodus and threats of cheaper copycat versions of its Wegovy treatment coming to market.
Earlier this month, the company — once Europe’s largest by market capitalisation — announced that it expected net sales to fall by as much as 13 per cent this year, a deeper hit than analysts had expected.
Novo’s shares have almost halved over the past 12 months and trade two-thirds below their peak of June 2024.
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