Novo’s Experimental Weight Loss Pill Yields Greater Results Than Wegovy in Early-Stage Trial

Novo Nordisk announced that early-stage trial results for its new weight loss pill, amycretin, show promising outcomes, with participants losing up to 13% of their body weight in just 12 weeks. The results were presented at the European Association for the Study of Diabetes' annual meeting, comparing favorably to the company's current blockbuster obesity treatment, Wegovy, which demonstrated around 6% weight loss over the same period.

In this phase 1 trial, participants took either one or two amycretin pills daily or a placebo. Those on two pills saw the most significant weight loss, while those on one pill lost over 10%. Placebo participants lost just 1.1% of their body weight. While the trial doesn’t compare amycretin directly to existing treatments, Novo says the pill is safe and shows a similar side effect profile to Wegovy and Ozempic, with gastrointestinal complaints like nausea, vomiting, and diarrhea being the most common issues.

Amycretin targets the same GLP-1 hormone as Novo’s other treatments like Ozempic and Wegovy, but it also stimulates receptors for amylin, a hormone that regulates hunger. While current weight loss drugs are only available as injections, Novo is racing to develop effective oral options, with the potential to appeal to more users. Novo’s head of development, Martin Lange Holst, said that the trial results are encouraging and could lead to the acceleration of amycretin’s development, possibly skipping an intermediate testing phase.

Novo Nordisk, a major player in diabetes and obesity treatment, is pushing the boundaries of the pharmaceutical market. Alongside Eli Lilly, it dominates the obesity drug sector, which analysts predict could be worth over $100 billion by the end of the decade.