The shares of the Ozempic manufacturer crash after a failed weight loss attempt

Shares in Novo Nordisk fell by more than a quarter after the Ozempic maker announced a series of disappointing results in a trial for its next-generation obesity drug.

A 29 percent drop resulted in up to 736 billion Danish crowns (£82 billion) being wiped from company valuations on Friday, equivalent to almost a quarter of Denmark’s GDP.

Investors were spooked after a late-stage test for Novo’s CagriSema showed less weight loss than expected, dealing a blow to the Danish company’s attempts to market a more effective successor to its Wegovy weight-loss shot.

The CagriSema study showed that the drug helped patients reduce their overall weight by 22.7 percent, which was below the 25 percent expected by Novo Nordisk. The effectiveness is similar to the 23 percent reported for Zepbound, already available from competitor Eli Lilly.

Simon Baker, pharmaceutical analyst at Redburn Atlantic, said: “They were looking for a better result than Lilly and got the same result.”

The results are a “worst case scenario” for Novo, said Markus Manns from Novo and Lilly shareholder Union Investment, adding: “CagriSema is only as good as Zepbound, but more complex to produce.”

Novo Nordisk said it will begin a new trial of the drug CagriSema in the first half of 2025, which it hopes will produce greater weight loss.

A spokesperson said: “We plan to optimize dose titration to further explore the additional potential of CagriSema for weight loss. A new study is scheduled to begin in the first half of 2025.”

It told investors it was “encouraged by CagriSema’s weight loss profile, which was achieved despite only 57 percent of patients reaching the highest CagriSema dose.”

Analysts at investment bank Berenberg said: “This disappointing result will increase investor concerns about the durability of the Novo Obesity portfolio beyond semaglutide (the chemical name for Wegovy), whose patent expires at the start of the next decade.”

Investors had been eagerly awaiting the latest results, which were expected to demonstrate Novo’s strength in the increasingly competitive anti-obesity market.

The company is currently facing stiff competition from US rival Lilly, which is working on its own next-generation anti-obesity drug, known by the chemical name retatrutide.

Meanwhile, Pfizer is testing a pill that could provide a more convenient form of treatment than current injections.

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