Nordisk Chief Executive Lars Fruergaard Jørgensen said Friday that the company's experimental weight-loss pill, amicretin, could eventually become the best treatment for obesity.
The Danish drugmaker is racing to capitalize on the runaway success of its blockbuster weight-loss drug Wegovy by developing a new generation of obesity treatments, including more convenient and potentially cheaper pills.
His comments came a day after Novo Nordisk impressed investors with data from initial amicretin trials. Patients taking the pill lost about 13.1% of their weight after 12 weeks, Jørgensen said on CNBC's “Money Movers.”
That beats the 6% weight loss seen in those taking Wegovy after the same period. It also adds to the growing excitement around the potential of weight loss pills.
Lars Fruergaard Jørgensen, CEO of Novo Nordisk, speaks during an interview in New York on August 10, 2022.
Christopher Goodney | Bloomberg | fake images
In addition to being convenient for patients, the pills could help alleviate some of the supply limitations that plague weight-loss injections. Wegovy, along with similar medications, has increased in demand and has suffered from intermittent shortages over the past year due to its ability to help patients lose significant weight over time.
“We believe that in the future there will be different segments of obesity treatments, and different patients will have different preferences,” Jørgensen told CNBC. “Some will prefer an injectable and we really believe that once we can take a pill it will be a very convenient offering.”
But those pills won't hit the market anytime soon. An interim trial with amicretin will begin in the second half of this year and results are expected in early 2026, the company said Thursday.
In a separate interview with Reuters on Friday, Novo Nordisk development chief Martin Holst Lange said the company is comfortable with the possibility of launching amicretin this decade.
Amicretin suppresses appetite by attacking the same gut hormone that Wegovy mimics, which is known as GLP-1. But amicretin also acts on a pancreatic hormone called amylin, which affects hunger.
Novo Nordisk's U.S.-listed 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 shares fell 2% on Friday.
