By Stine Jacobsen and Maggie Fick
COPENHAGEN (Reuters) -Novo Nordisk plans to examine in clinical trials whether its future weight-loss drugs can treat a wide range of health conditions linked to obesity, as it has already begun doing with its blockbuster drug Wegovy.
The Danish drugmaker aims to build evidence across both severe and more common obesity-related conditions that affect patients’ daily lives, such as knee osteoarthritis and sleep apnea, Martin Holst Lange, head of research and development at Novo Nordisk, told Reuters in an interview in connection with the European Association for the Study of Diabetes conference in Vienna.
“We do know that obesity is actually related to more than 200 different comorbidities,” Lange said.
Novo has not disclosed which conditions it plans to investigate in future trials for its experimental therapies CagriSema and amycretin. It has already received regulatory approval for semaglutide as a treatment to reduce the risk of major cardiovascular events such as heart attacks and strokes.
The company is also awaiting results by year-end from an eagerly expected trial testing semaglutide – the active ingredient in its blockbuster drugs Wegovy and Ozempic – in Alzheimer’s disease, marking its push beyond obesity and diabetes treatment.
“Any significant results would be clinically relevant because that would imply a delay in the decline of cognitive function,” said Lange. “In the space where very few treatments are available for patients with Alzheimer’s disease, that would be meaningful.” But he cautioned: “We see this as high risk.”
UBS analysts estimated just a 10% probability of success for the trial, but noted that positive outcomes could generate an additional $15 billion in annual revenue for Novo Nordisk.
Barclays analysts said in a recent note that the trial results would be critical to determine whether Novo’s Alzheimer’s programme can become a new pillar of long-term growth.
Lange spoke days after the company announced it would cut 9,000 jobs as it tries to reignite growth and fend off competition from U.S. rival Eli Lilly. The restructuring, expected to save about $1.25 billion annually, includes the ending of some early-stage drug pipeline research.
(Reporting by Stine Jacobsen and Maggie Fick, editing by Alex Richardson)
Brought to you by www.srnnews.com
