GLP-1
Novo Nordisk’s amycretin showed no weight-loss plateau over 36 weeks in patients with type 2 diabetes, suggesting its efficacy could become even stronger with longer follow-up, according to analysts at BMO Capital Markets.
Previous mega blockbusters took years to reach their peak sales. Lilly’s tirzepatide franchise is on course to exceed them just a few years in.
Analysts agree that the failure of Novo Nordisk’s semaglutide to reduce Alzheimer’s disease progression removes a “modest” or “perceived” overhang on Biogen and the anti-amyloid antibody class in general, clearing the way for increased uptake of Leqembi and Eli Lilly’s Kisunla.
“We felt we had a responsibility to explore semaglutide’s potential, despite a low likelihood of success,” Martin Holst Lange, Novo’s R&D chief, said on Monday.
The drugmaker’s dominance of the obesity market is fueling predictions that years of growth lie ahead.
If Eli Lilly’s obesity pill orforglipron is approved and priced around $200 per month, analysts at Truist predict patients will flock to it.
Novo Nordisk goes “on the offensive” following Trump deal that also included rival Eli Lilly, putting an exclamation point on rapidly declining GLP-1 drug prices. Experts say the unusual situation makes it hard to predict what’s next.
“As the future chair I will attend to the interests of not only the Novo Nordisk Foundation but all shareholders of the company,” incoming chair and former Novo Nordisk CEO Lars Rebien Sørensen said at the meeting held Friday.
Speaking at a conference this morning, Pfizer CEO Albert Bourla suggested that Metsera’s therapies could begin hitting the market in 2028.
The decision to pause dapiglutide will help Zealand focus investment into assets that have “the greatest potential for clinical differentiation” in obesity.
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