Best-selling Novo reduces heart risks more effectively than competitor, trial shows

Danish pharmaceutical giant Novo Nordisk said its obesity drug Wegovy reduces cardiovascular risks more effectively than its main competitors. The company's shares jumped 3% as a result.

Novo Nordisk said its obesity drug Wegovy reduces cardiovascular risk more effectively compared to counterparts from U.S. rival Eli Lilly, The Wall Street Journal reports . The study found that long-term users of Wegovy-branded semaglutide had a 57% greater reduction in their risk of heart attack, stroke, death from cardiovascular disease or any other cause than those who received tirzepatide, the active ingredient in Lilly's Zepbound and Mounjaro.

These results are based on data from more than 21,000 patients with overweight and obesity, but not diabetes, Novo reported. The study was conducted beginning in 2022 - in a real-world, routine clinical practice setting, not in a controlled trial format.

"The data confirm that semaglutide is the only currently available GLP-1 class drug with a proven cardiovascular protective effect in obese people with cardiovascular disease without diabetes," said Novo Nordisk Head of Product Strategy and Portfolio Ludovic Helfgott.

Novo Nordisk shares jumped 3% on September 1 at the trading in Copenhagen. However, this is still not enough to reverse their dynamics this year: since January, the company's value has decreased by more than 40%. At the same time, in the last month the securities recovered the losses, having grown in price by 18%.

By comparison, Eli Lilly's shares have fallen by 5% since the beginning of the year, and three quarters of that fall occurred last month, when the company's stock collapsed due to disappointing market results from a trial of an obesity pill in patients without diabetes. Investors were more optimistic about a trial of the same drug in participants with diabetes.

Now there are no analysts on Wall Street who advise selling Eli Lilly shares, and 22 out of 28 suggest buying, MarketWatch shows . Novo is being treated more cautiously: the company's securities have 15 buy recommendations and 16 neutral ratings, equivalent to advice to keep them in the portfolio. One analyst suggests to reduce the share in the Danish pharmaceutical giant.

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