Novo Nordisk’s next-generation weight-loss drug matches Lilly’s Zepbound in major trial, but doesn’t surpass it

CNN—Since Ozempic blasted onto the stage in 2017 with itsapprovalfor type 2 diabetes, drugmakers Novo Nordisk and Eli Lilly have been battling to leapfrog each other with newer and more effective medicines to turbo-charge diabetes and weight-loss results with the class known as GLP-1 receptor agonists.Novo Nordisk’s latest attempt in weight loss, a combination drug called CagriSema, matched the bar set by Lilly’s currently approved medicine, Zepbound, but didn’t cleanly surpass it in late-stage clinical trial findingsreportedFriday.The experimental drug puts semaglutide, the ingredient in Ozempic and the weight-loss drug Wegovy, together with a medicine called cagrilintide to make the combination Novo Nordisk calls CagriSema.An Eli Lilly & Co. Zepbound injection pen arranged in the Brooklyn borough of New York on Thursday, March 28.Shelby Knowles/Bloomberg/Getty ImagesRelated articleUS FDA says Lilly’s weight-loss drug shortage is resolvedThe 68-week study showed participants on CagriSema lost about 23% of their body weight, compared with 12% for those taking cagrilintide by itself, 16% for those on semaglutide, and 2.3% for people on a placebo.That means the study met its main goal, but those watching the weight-loss drug race closely had pegged their hopes on an average result for CagriSema of at least 25% weight loss, which would set a new bar for a field that’s already been revolutionized by GLP-1 drugs.Lilly’s Zepbound, approved in November 2023 as the Indiana-based drug giant’s answer to Novo Nordisk’s Wegovy,showed21% average weight loss after 72 weeks for its highest dose in its Phase 3 trial, and a mid-stage study of another Lilly experimental medicine, called retatrutide,showed24% weight loss after just 48 weeks.Get CNN Health's weekly newsletterSign up here to getThe Results Are In with Dr. Sanjay Guptaevery Friday from the CNN Health team.“We are encouraged by the weight loss profile of CagriSema demonstrating superiority over both semaglutide and cagrilintide in monotherapy,” Martin Holst Lange, executive vice president for development at Novo Nordisk, said in a company news release Friday. He said Novo Nordisk would use insights from the trial “to further explore the additional weight loss potential of CagriSema.”Novo Nordisk’s stock fell about 19% in early Friday trading on the news, wiping out tens of billions of dollars from the Danish drug giant’s market value.CagriSema’s side effects appeared to be similar to other drugs in the GLP-1 class; the company said the most common ones were gastrointestinal, with the “vast majority” mild to moderate and going away over time.Novo Nordisk said it expects results from a second Phase 3 trial of the medicine, this one in people with type 2 diabetes, in the first half of 2025.This is a breaking news story and will be updated.