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Feb 23 (Reuters) – Novo Nordisk shares slumped by more than 16% on Monday, wiping away the remaining \u200cgains brought by its blockbuster weight-loss drug Wegovy, \u200cafter the drugmaker said its next-generation obesity drug CagriSema underperformed Eli Lilly’s \u200brival.<\/p>\n
Novo, which in 2024 was worth more than $650 billion, has since shed around $475 billion, with the shares back at levels last seen before Wegovy transformed it into Europe’s most \u200cvaluable drugmaker.<\/p>\n
Novo’s shares \u2060fell to their lowest level since June 2021, when Wegovy was first launched, driving a \u2060long sales and share price boom that even helped propel Denmark’s wider economy.<\/p>\n
Novo shares were among the biggest decliners in \u200bEurope’s benchmark \u200bSTOXX 600 index. Meanwhile, \u200bshares of Eli Lilly rose \u200cabout 4% in U.S. morning trade.<\/p>\n
J.P. Morgan analysts said the trial miss was a significant setback that could curb demand for CagriSema, temper long-term sales hopes and leave Novo struggling to \u200cwin back share in the fast-growing \u200bobesity treatment market.<\/p>\n
The setback adds to \u200binvestor worries about \u200bintensifying competition in obesity treatments, where demand is \u200cincreasingly driven by drugs offering \u200bthe greatest \u200bweight-loss results.<\/p>\n
Shares of Novo’s Danish peer Zealand declined 7%, but analysts brushed off broader concerns about its own \u200bweight-loss drug, similarly \u200ctargeting the amylin hormone.<\/p>\n
(Reporting by Jesus Calero in \u200bGdansk and Bhanvi Satija in London, editing by \u200bMilla Nissi-Prussak and Andrei Khalip)<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n