Shares of Novo Nordisk fell by almost 5% on Friday after the results of a Phase 2a trial of the Danish drugmaker's experimental weight loss pill Monlunabant fell below market expectations, UNN reports citing Reuters.
Details
The company announced key trial results for monlunabant, an experimental drug it acquired as part of its $1 billion acquisition of Canadian biotech Inversago Pharmaceuticals last year.
The company said at its capital market day in March that it expects the drug to provide weight loss of up to 15% of body weight, on par with its mega-blockbuster obesity injection Wegovy.
But in the main trial results released on Friday, the once-daily pill resulted in only 6.5% weight loss after 16 weeks.
Novo Nordisk shares fell 4.8% on Friday, hitting their lowest level in five weeks.
Addendum
Despite the lower-than-expected weight loss, Novo Nordisk said that based on the trial results, it will launch a larger Phase 2b trial to further study the drug's dosage and safety profile over a longer period of time in a global population. According to its statement, it expects to start this trial next year.