On January 24, Novo Nordisk, the Danish pharmaceutical giant, announced the latest trial results of the new weight - loss drug Amycretin. This drug can, on average, help patients lose 22% of their body weight, outperforming Semaglutide, which the company is currently marketing.

Boosted by this news, Novo Nordisk's shares on the US stock market opened with a surge of over 10% on Friday. As of the time of writing, the increase had dropped back to over 8%.

The trial results showed that Amycretin is administered by injection. After 36 weeks, the average body weight of obese and overweight patients decreased by 22%. In contrast, patients using a placebo during the same period gained 2.0% in body weight.

This trial involved 125 overweight or obese patients. The most common side effect was gastrointestinal discomfort, and most of the side effects were evaluated as "mild to moderate".

Compared with the already well - known Wegovy, Amycretin has a better weight - loss effect. Wegovy is Novo Nordisk's current main weight - loss product, and its active ingredient is Semaglutide.

Previous data showed that patients using Wegovy lost an average of 13.7% of their body weight after 72 weeks of treatment.

Martin Lange, Executive Vice President of Research and Development at Novo Nordisk, said that the results of the Phase 1b/2a trial of Amycretin were encouraging, and they had previously seen potential in the early trials of the oral form of Amycretin.

Novo Nordisk is also developing an oral weight - loss drug of Amycretin. The early trial results announced last September showed that patients lost an average of 13.1% of their body weight within 12 weeks. Novo Nordisk said at the time that the therapy was safe and tolerable for patients, but was accompanied by mild to moderate side effects.

The Amycretin drug may help Novo Nordisk compete with its major rival, Eli Lilly.

A comparative trial announced in December last year showed that patients using Zepbound lost an average of 20.2% of their body weight after 72 weeks of treatment, significantly higher than the 13.7% of Wegovy.

Novo Nordisk and Eli Lilly are vying for the dominance of the weight - loss drug market. Some analysts predict that the annual sales of this market will reach $150 billion in the next decade.

Last month, Novo Nordisk announced the trial data of another weight - loss drug, CagriSema. The results were less than expected, causing the company's share price to plummet nearly 18% on the same day.

Source: https://finance.eastmoney.com/a/202501243307902069.html