Wegovy pill offers 'significant' weight reduction, Novo Nordisk says, as oral obesity drug race intensifies

Novo Nordisk said Wednesday that late-stage proceedings results for its once-daily obesity pill showed "significant" value simplification and tolerability successful enactment with its blockbuster Wegovy injection, arsenic drugmakers contention to get an oral attraction to market.

Results from the signifier 3 Oasis 4 proceedings showed the oral semaglutide pill led to mean value simplification of 16.6% aft 64 weeks successful patients with obesity oregon overweight and astatine slightest 1 weight-related comorbidity, the Danish pharmaceutical steadfast said.

Dubbed the "Wegovy pill," Novo Nordisk's Chief Science Officer Martin Holst Lange told CNBC that the oral attraction offered patients an important alternate to its existing once-weekly injection.

"Our occupation was to amusement that, with the tablet, we could get the aforesaid efficacy and the aforesaid information and tolerability arsenic we tin with the injectable. That we person present done," Lange said by phone.

"That fundamentally means that we tin connection patients the prime betwixt the tablet and the injectable, and that volition marque a quality for immoderate patients," helium added.

Novo Nordisk's oral attraction relies connected the aforesaid Semaglutide GLP-1 medicine that underpins the company's existing obesity and diabetes treatments, Wegovy and Ozempic. Wegovy was shown to trim value by 15% connected mean successful patients with overweight oregon obesity and astatine slightest 1 weight-related comorbidity successful an earlier Novo study.

The pill is presently nether reappraisal with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, having been submitted nether a New Drug Application successful February. A determination is owed successful the 4th fourth of this year.

If approved, the institution said the pill volition beryllium made afloat successful the U.S. It comes arsenic planetary pharma firms person been ramping up their U.S. investments amid unit from the Trump medication to bolster domestic production.

There are presently nary approved oral versions of GLP-1s connected the market, nevertheless contention is rapidly heating up. Pill treatments are considered a cardinal milestone for firms seeking to marque the drugs much accessible, including to those with an aversion to needles.

Analysts told Reuters Tuesday that rival Eli Lilly's rival obesity pill, Orforglipron, could beryllium fast-tracked for support wrong 1 to 2 months nether the FDA's "Commissioner's National Priority Voucher" — a caller inaugural to further the Trump administration's cause improvement goals.

Lange said Novo welcomes "good competition" but added it was focused connected cause outcomes, including semipermanent adoption rates.

"In this situation, we look astatine the data," Lange said. "Semaglutide arsenic a tablet has the imaginable to connection 17% assemblage value nonaccomplishment and with a bully information and tolerability profile."

"What we've seen from our rival is somewhat much than 12% value loss. And, again, we can't bash nonstop comparisons, but astatine slightest we tin spot a discontinuation rate, suggesting that possibly Semaglutide besides has a [more] effectual information and tolerability profile."

In a signifier 3 ATTAIN-1 proceedings released Tuesday, Eli Lilly said Orforglipron resulted successful mean value nonaccomplishment of 12.4% astatine the highest dose aft 72 weeks in adults with obesity, oregon overweight with astatine slightest 1 comorbidity.

Nevertheless, the U.S. cause shaper said Wednesday that its pill outperformed Novo's successful the archetypal head-to-head study comparing the 2 medicines' efficacy successful lowering humor sweetener levels successful patients with Type 2 diabetes. 

Both companies person been experimenting with caller alleged next-generation drugs, with Novo connected Tuesday flagging promise successful its Cagrilintide long-acting amylin analogue — a nascent signifier of value nonaccomplishment treatment.

It comes arsenic the Danish institution past week announced plans to cut astir 9,000 roles arsenic portion of a wider shake-up nether caller CEO Mike Doustdar, who has vowed to reset the institution aft a play of weaker growth.

"What we are doing present is focusing connected our core, which is diabetes and obesity. That volition see continuous concern successful some diabetes and obesity, and also, arsenic we discussed, the related comorbidities," Lange said Wednesday.