Packages of the weight-loss drug Wegovy from the pharmaceutical firm Novo Nordisk lie on the gross sales counter in a Danish pharmacy.
Stefan Trumpf | Image Alliance | Getty Photographs
Shares of Danish drugmaker Novo Nordisk soared Tuesday, after late-stage trial knowledge confirmed that its weight problems drug Wegovy diminished the chance of main cardiovascular occasions resembling coronary heart assaults or strokes by 20%, in contrast with a placebo.
The outcomes of the carefully watched “SELECT” trial, which exceeded expectations, had been seen as a significant enhance for the corporate’s hopes of shifting past Wegovy’s picture as a “self-importance drug.”
Shares of Novo Nordisk rose practically 16% throughout mid-morning offers, earlier than paring beneficial properties. The inventory was final seen buying and selling 14% larger at 1:35 p.m. London time (8:35 a.m. ET).
The double-blind trial started nearly 5 years in the past and concerned greater than 17,600 adults with established heart problems who had been chubby or suffered from weight problems, however had no prior historical past of diabetes.
The headline outcomes present that the weekly injection of semaglutide 2.4 mg achieved its major objection of lowering the chance of cardiovascular occasions, resembling coronary heart assaults or strokes, by 20% in contrast with a placebo. Wegovy incorporates 2.4 mg of semaglutide.
Traders and analysts had advised Reuters {that a} danger discount of between 15% and 17% can be interpreted as a constructive consequence for the blockbuster weight reduction drug.
Martin Holst Lange, government vice chairman for growth at Novo Nordisk, stated that the outcomes confirmed that the corporate’s weight problems drug “has the potential to alter how weight problems is regarded and handled.”
“Folks dwelling with weight problems have an elevated danger of heart problems however to this point, there are not any authorised weight administration medicines confirmed to ship efficient weight administration whereas additionally lowering the chance of coronary heart assault, stroke or cardiovascular loss of life,” Holst Lange stated in an announcement.
“Due to this fact, we’re very excited in regards to the outcomes from SELECT displaying that semaglutide 2.4 mg reduces the chance of cardiovascular occasions.”
The corporate stated it expects to file for regulatory approvals of a label indication enlargement for Wegovy within the U.S. and European Union this yr.
Emily Subject, head of European prescribed drugs fairness analysis at Barclays, advised CNBC final month that the outcomes of Novo Nordisk’s SELECT trial amounted to an essential litmus check for the well being trade.
Within the occasion that the drug was discovered to have wider-reaching functions, together with cardiovascular advantages, Subject stated that it was extra seemingly that it could possibly be adopted underneath mainstream health-care insurance policies.
Public well being providers “do not wish to pay for it, if it will not sort out underlying well being situations,” she stated.
The detailed outcomes from the SELECT trial might be offered at a scientific convention later within the yr, Novo Nordisk stated, with out absolutely disclosing the timeline.
— CNBC’s Karen Gilchrist contributed to this report.
