Novo Nordisk The company's experimental weight-loss pill, Amicretin, could eventually become a best-in-class treatment for obesity, CEO Lars Frørgaard Jørgensen said on Friday.
The Danish pharmaceutical company is racing to capitalize on the huge success of blockbuster weight-loss drug Wegovy by developing a new generation of obesity treatments, including a more convenient and potentially cheaper pill.
His comments came a day after Novo Nordisk impressed investors with preliminary trial data for amicritin. Patients who took the pill lost about 13.1% of their weight after 12 weeks, Jorgensen said on CNBC's “Money Movers.”
This exceeds the 6% weight loss seen in those who took Wegovy after the same time period. It also adds to the growing enthusiasm about the potential of weight loss pills.
Lars Frørgaard Jørgensen, CEO of Novo Nordisk, speaks during an interview in New York on August 10, 2022.
Christopher Goodney | Bloomberg | Getty Images
Besides convenience for patients, the pills can help alleviate some of the supply limitations experienced with weight loss injections. Demand for Wegovy, along with similar drugs, has surged and slipped into intermittent shortages over the past year due to its ability to help patients shed significant weight over time.
“We believe that in the future there will be different segments of anti-obesity treatments, with different preferences for different patients,” Jorgensen told CNBC. “Some people prefer injections, and we really believe that once we can take the pill, it will be a very convenient proposition.”
But those pills won't be joining the market anytime soon. A mid-life trial of amicretin will begin in the second half of this year, with results expected in early 2026, the company said Thursday.
In a separate interview with Reuters on Friday, Martin Holst Lange, Novo Nordisk's head of development, said the company feels comfortable with its ability to launch amicretin this decade.
Amicretin suppresses appetite by targeting the same gut hormone that Wegovy mimics, which is known as GLP-1. But amicretin also targets a pancreatic hormone called amylin, which affects hunger.
Novo Nordisk's U.S.-traded shares rose as much as 8.3% on Thursday after the company released the data, extending last year's 68% gain. But the company's stock fell 2% on Friday.
