Latest news with #CagriSema
Yahoo
2 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Novo Nordisk shares fall as obesity pipeline faces investor scrutiny
By Maggie Fick and Stine Jacobsen LONDON/COPENHAGEN (Reuters) -Shares in Novo Nordisk fell as much as 3.5% on Monday after detailed trial data on its experimental obesity drug CagriSema fuelled investor concerns about its competitiveness against rival Eli Lilly's pipeline. Novo on Sunday said full results from two late-stage trials of CagriSema - one in people with obesity or overweight, the other in overweight type 2 diabetics - showed mainly mild-to-moderate side effects and positive outcomes on blood sugar. But, as analysts had predicted ahead of the data release, investors remained sceptical. Jefferies called the updates "incremental" and flagged concerns over tolerability, as CagriSema caused slightly more nausea than both Novo's blockbuster obesity injection Wegovy and Lilly's rival therapy Zepbound. The drug is not expected to launch until early 2027, "a long time interval for investors", Novo and Lilly shareholder Markus Manns told Reuters. Manns said sentiment in Lilly had been buoyed by data it also presented at the annual meeting of the American Diabetes Association in Chicago over the weekend that showed no safety issues in a mid-stage trial of its oral weight-loss candidate orforglipron in people with diabetes. Late-stage obesity data for orforglipron are due in the third quarter. "Novo's status has clearly changed from being the obesity leader to a fast follower," Manns said. CagriSema is key to Novo's efforts to compete with Lilly in the obesity market, which analysts estimate could top $150 billion annually by 2030. Novo had billed CagriSema as a more potent successor to Wegovy, but late-stage headline trial results published in December 2024 fell short of market hopes, showing 22.7% average weight loss over 68 weeks - below the company's 25% target. That sent shares plunging, wiping as much as $125 billion off its market value. Last month, Novo ousted its CEO Lars Fruergaard Jorgensen amid concerns it was losing its first-mover advantage in the obesity drug race. One of the reasons cited for Jorgensen's removal was the share price decline. Shares, which have slumped some 55% since a June 2024 peak, are up about 8% since his departure was announced on May 16. Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data
Yahoo
4 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Novo Nordisk A/S (NVO): A Bull Case Theory
We came across a bullish thesis on Novo Nordisk A/S on Kontra Investments' Substack by Kontra. In this article, we will summarize the bull's thesis on NVO. Novo Nordisk A/S's share was trading at $70.73 as of June 24th. NVO's trailing and forward P/E were 19.24 and 17.09, respectively, according to Yahoo Finance. A picture of a pharma technician preparing an IV injection of a biopharmaceutical product. Novo Nordisk continues to solidify its leadership in obesity treatment with groundbreaking clinical results and strategic clarity, reinforcing its position as a cornerstone healthcare investment. At the 2025 ADA Scientific Sessions, the company unveiled exceptional data from the REDEFINE 1 trial of its new combination therapy, CagriSema, which achieved a mean weight loss of 22.7% at 68 weeks. Over 60% of patients lost more than 20% of their body weight, with 23% exceeding a 30% reduction—figures that set a new benchmark in obesity care. CagriSema's strong efficacy is coupled with a favorable safety profile, with only 6% of participants discontinuing treatment due to mostly mild gastrointestinal issues. Novo's innovation pipeline also features amycretin, a dual GLP-1 and amylin receptor agonist, showing promising early-stage data for sustained weight loss and further diversifying its leadership in metabolic health. Financially, Novo Nordisk remains highly attractive, with revenues expected to grow from DKK 330 billion in 2025 to DKK 520 billion by 2029, alongside EBIT margins projected around 50%. Valuation metrics support the bullish case: its forward P/E is forecast to decline from 17x in 2025 to under 10x by 2029, and EV/EBITDA from 12.6x to 6.6x. Dividend yields are set to increase steadily, and free cash flow is projected to reach DKK 174 billion by 2029. Novo Nordisk's disciplined capital allocation, strong innovation, and regulatory integrity highlight its potential for long-term outperformance. The company remains a premier name in global healthcare, offering both resilience and upside for investors seeking quality growth. Previously, we covered a on Novo Nordisk A/S by Kontra Investments in May 2025, which highlighted its GLP-1 market dominance, strong Q1 results, and resilience against U.S. headwinds. The company's stock price has appreciated by approximately 4.4% since our coverage. The thesis still stands as Novo's pipeline and financial strength continue to support long-term growth. Kontra shares an identical view but emphasizes CagriSema's clinical data. Novo Nordisk A/S is not on our list of the 30 Most Popular Stocks Among Hedge Funds. As per our database, 60 hedge fund portfolios held NVO at the end of the first quarter, which was 64 in the previous quarter. While we acknowledge the risk and potential of NVO as an investment, our conviction lies in the belief that some AI stocks hold greater promise for delivering higher returns and have limited downside risk. If you are looking for an extremely cheap AI stock that is also a major beneficiary of Trump tariffs and onshoring, see our free report on the best short-term AI stock. READ NEXT: 8 Best Wide Moat Stocks to Buy Now and 30 Most Important AI Stocks According to BlackRock. Disclosure: None.
CNBC
4 days ago
- Health
- CNBC
Healthy Returns: New weight loss drug data show Eli Lilly is gaining ground
Competition in the blockbuster weight loss drug market is ramping up, as drugmakers share fresh data on new and existing treatments. The annual American Diabetes Association conference in Chicago showcased results on obesity injections, pills and other therapies this past weekend. Companies big and small are vying for a slice of the weight loss drug space – and for good reason. Some analysts estimate the market could be worth more than $150 billion a year by the end of the decade. While I didn't attend the conference in person this year, I've rounded up some highlights: Eli Lilly steals the show – Wall Street breathed a sigh of relief after the company's experimental pill, orforglipron, helped patients lose weight without serious side effects in a late-stage clinical trial. The highest dose helped patients with Type 2 diabetes lose 7.6% of their body weight during the 40-week study, with no signs of liver damage in those who took the daily treatment. Eli Lilly, which released initial data from the study in April, will unveil results from a separate trial on obese or overweight patients without diabetes later this year. The company plans to launch the pill next year. The drugmaker also teased the future of its portfolio, showcasing treatments that "could further extend Lilly's dominance in the space," BMO Capital Markets analyst Evan Seigerman said in a note on Sunday. Another experimental Eli Lilly drug, bimagrumab, helped preserve lean muscle mass and drive greater fat loss in patients taking the popular obesity treatment Wegovy from Novo Nordisk in a mid-stage trial. The therapy appears to offer a potential solution to a problem that has emerged with existing weight loss injections. Some doctors are concerned that patients may be losing too much lean muscle mass while taking the shots, particularly older adults who can be more frail. Eli Lilly is now running additional studies of the drug in combination with its own weight loss injection, Zepbound, Ken Custer, president of Lilly Cardiometabolic Health, told CNBC. "We think we can get even better [results] on top of tirzepatide," Custer said, referring to the active ingredient in Zepbound. Another experimental therapy from Eli Lilly also helped patients shed pounds with few side effects in a small study, impressing analysts. The drug, called eloralintide, is part of a class of drugs that mimic the hormone amylin, which slows down digestion and makes people feel fuller for longer. Novo Nordisk scrambles to catch up – As Eli Lilly tries to maintain or grow its edge in the weight loss drug market, chief rival Novo Nordisk released full results from late-stage trials on its experimental weekly injection, CagriSema. Investors hammered the company's stock in December after preliminary trial results showed CagriSema had missed its target of 25% average weight loss, with less than half of the patients hitting that goal. But the full results show that patients lost significant weight, even if they chose to stick with a lower dose of the treatment. The studies allowed patients to stop at lower doses if they wanted to manage side effects or if they were already losing enough weight. The full data at the conference also highlighted a "relatively clean safety profile" for CagriSema, Seigerman said in a separate note on Monday. The drug had similar side effects to Wegovy despite delivering more weight loss. CagriSema is a combination of cagrilintide – which mimics amylin – and semaglutide, the active ingredient in Wegovy. Novo Nordisk also released data from a pair of early trials on another experimental drug called amycretin. The drug helped patients lose as much as 24.3% of their weight after 36 weeks, and also showed signs of improving blood sugar levels with side effects generally in line with other obesity medicines. The treatment mimics the same gut hormone as Wegovy to tamp down appetite and regulate blood sugar, but also combines it with amylin. The companies plan to advance both injectable and oral versions of amycretin into late-stage trials for weight management, Novo Nordisk said in a release. Amgen outlines next steps for obesity injection – As Amgen tries to make waves in the two-company race, it needs to improve on results from late-stage trials on its experimental monthly weight loss injection, Seigerman said in a separate note on Monday. Amgen has laid out its plan for the weight loss market, which is based on results it presented on two trials at the conference. The company said its drug, MariTide, led to significant weight loss but high rates of side effects and discontinuations in a mid-stage trial. Amgen released initial data from that trial back in November. Rates of patients who discontinued the drug due to side effects were high, ranging from 10% to 29% within different groups that took it. Rates of vomiting ranged from 43% to 92%. Groups of patients that gradually increased dosage had lower rates of discontinuations and vomiting than those who did not. However, a smaller phase one study showed that starting patients on lower doses of MariTide and using more gradual dose escalation improved how well they tolerated the drug. The two groups with the lowest starting initial doses experienced rates of vomiting of around 23% and 24%, and there were no discontinuations due to side effects. "Lower starting doses and more steps helps patients," Jay Bradner, executive vice president of research and development at Amgen, told CNBC. He added that MariTide's side effects are "short-lived," and that the data informed the design of Amgen's 72-week phase three trials on the drug. The company is using lower starting doses and three steps of dose escalation over an eight-week period in those studies. By week eight, patients will reach one of three different target doses of MariTide. "What we achieve by dose escalation is to allow the brain to tolerate the next step of doses," Bradner said, noting that it's a strategy used with Wegovy and Zepbound. But MariTide may have an advantage over those rival treatments since it will use fewer steps and increase doses over a shorter period of time, he said. In a note on Monday, Jefferies analysts said they believe the phase three data will come in "better than expectations." They said the key takeaway is that Amgen's lower and slower dosing plan will significantly improve side effects and lower discontinuations, and "might even further boost efficacy" in the trials if patients stay on the drug and experience its full effects. At the end of the year, Amgen will also have data on patients who took MariTide every quarter, according to Bradner. Feel free to send any tips, suggestions, story ideas and data to Annika at The investments just keep pouring in. Abridge on Tuesday announced it closed a $300 million funding round led by Andreessen Horowitz, with participation from Khosla Ventures. The round comes just months after the startup raised another $250 million in fresh capital earlier this year. Founded in 2018, Abridge uses artificial intelligence to draft clinical notes in real time as doctors consensually record their visits with patients. The startup is part of a market that has exploded as health-care executives search for solutions to help reduce staff burnout and daunting administrative workloads. Abridge has now raised nearly $818 million, according to PitchBook, and it partners with more than 150 health systems across the U.S. The company earned a spot on CNBC's Disruptor 50 list this year. "It's a privilege, ultimately, to continue to create the impact that we want to continue to have for clinicians, patients and other members of the healthcare ecosystem," Julia Chou, Abridge's chief operating officer, told CNBC in an interview. Chou said that Abridge's fresh capital will help the company to push beyond traditional clinical notes. The startup is working to embed relevant revenue cycle information into its product, for instance, which would help make the documentation more compliant and alleviate downstream workflows. Abridge is not the only AI documentation startup that's thinking about health-care billing. Another AI scribing startup, Ambience Healthcare, has also been exploring applications around revenue cycle management. The company announced a new medical coding model in May that can listen to patient encounters and identify ICD-10 codes, which are internationally standardized classifications for different diseases and conditions. Ambience has raised more than $100 million from investors including Kleiner Perkins, Andreessen Horowitz and the OpenAI Startup Fund, according to PitchBook. The company is seeking fresh capital at a valuation of over $1 billion, according to a report from The Information. AI scribing companies' push into billing could help them market their products to cash-strapped health systems as true revenue drivers, and not just time-saving tools. Abridge says it is just getting started. "AI is coming to the doctor's office," Chou said. "The aspiration is for it to make your visits feel really human again." Feel free to send any tips, suggestions, story ideas and data to Ashley at
Yahoo
4 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Novo Nordisk A/S (NVO): 'How Could They Be So Far Behind?,' Wonders Jim Cramer
Novo Nordisk A/S (NYSE:NVO) is one of the . Novo Nordisk A/S (NYSE:NVO) is a Danish pharmaceutical giant that is a key player in the weight loss drug market. The firm's shares have lost 15.7% year-to-date. Novo Nordisk A/S (NYSE:NVO) has struggled primarily due to investor fears about Eli Lilly overtaking the firm in the weight loss drug market. Other news, such as a surprise departure of the firm's CEO hasn't helped the stock pare back its losses either. Novo Nordisk A/S (NYSE:NVO)'s stock lost 6% in March after its CagriSema weight loss drug fell short of the firm's estimates. While it had expected the drug to help users lose 25% of their body weight, the trials led to a 15.7% weight reduction. Cramer commented on activist investor Parvus taking a stake in the company: [On activist fund Parvus building a stake in the company] How could they be so far behind? You know they were first, they were first mover. And then Lilly came along, Lilly by the way, still a great stock. But maybe this is going to shake up Novo. In his previous comments about Novo Nordisk A/S (NYSE:NVO), Cramer commented on the firm in the context of Eli Lilly: An elderly couple receiving insulin from a pharmacist, representing healthcare company's successful pharmaceutical products. 'Okay, Eli Lilly. We bought some just the other day for the Charitable Trust. Why did we do that? Because it's down very big and yet it's been beating Novo Nordisk over and over and over again. So I just think this is a decent level to start a position if you don't have any.' While we acknowledge the potential of NVO as an investment, our conviction lies in the belief that some AI stocks hold greater promise for delivering higher returns and have limited downside risk. If you are looking for an extremely cheap AI stock that is also a major beneficiary of Trump tariffs and onshoring, see our free report on the best short-term AI stock. READ NEXT: 20 Best AI Stocks To Buy Now and 30 Best Stocks to Buy Now According to Billionaires. Disclosure: None. This article is originally published at Insider Monkey.
Los Angeles Times
5 days ago
- Business
- Los Angeles Times
Novo exits Hims & Hers partnership, citing ‘deceptive marketing' concerns
Novo Nordisk A/S scrapped a partnership with Hims & Hers Health Inc. after less than two months, saying the U.S. company is using 'deceptive marketing' to sell copycat versions of its obesity blockbuster Wegovy. Hims, a San Francisco based telehealth platform, wasn't stepping back enough from its practice of mass marketing off-brand imitations of the weight-loss medicine, Novo executives said. 'The big issue with Hims is that we had an agreement that the mass compounding would stop and unfortunately it didn't stop,' said Ludovic Helfgott, executive vice president of product and portfolio strategy at Novo, in an interview. 'That's why we ended the partnership.' In a post on X, Hims Chief Executive Officer Andrew Dudum called Novo executive comments 'misleading.' He said Novo had been pressuring Hims to 'steer patients to Wegovy regardless of whether it was clinically best for patients.' 'We refuse to be strong-armed,' he said, adding that Hims will continue to offer 'a range of treatments, including Wegovy.' Hims shares tumbled 35% in New York Monday — the most ever — as analysts said the withdrawal would leave the telehealth company without an attractive obesity profit stream. Novo shares fell 5.3% in Copenhagen on Monday, while Lilly gained 1%. The split is the latest in a series of unpleasant surprises for Novo that began last year after it became Europe's most valuable company due to the success of Wegovy and the related diabetes drug Ozempic. The Danish drugmaker has ousted its CEO and faced clinical-trial setbacks and waning obesity market share in the US. Novo had counted on the Hims partnership to broaden access in the US, where it's losing ground to Eli Lilly & Co. Dave Moore, executive vice president of Novo's US operations, said in an interview that the Hims partnership 'just wasn't aligning with our vision and where we thought the collaboration was going to go.' Novo needed more time to ensure a consistent supply of Wegovy than Lilly did to ramp up on its rival drug Zepbound. That gave so-called compounders, which make copycat versions of Wegovy that may be tweaked slightly to personalize them, more of a foothold. Adding to the Danish company's woes were disappointing clinical trial results for its next-generation drug CagriSema. The setbacks led to change at the top: Novo announced last month that CEO Lars Fruergaard Jorgensen will step down. The company has not yet chosen a replacement. Hims, best known for selling treatments for hair loss and erectile dysfunction, began offering copycat obesity drugs last year when Lilly's and Novo's brand medications were in short supply, leaving millions of Americans looking for alternatives. The platform teamed up with Novo in late April to offer Wegovy at a discounted price to clients. At the time, Hims CEO Dudum said the deal would be the beginning of the two companies 'working together to collaborate on what could be a very broad roadmap' of different types of drugs. Hims also said at the time that it still planned to offer compounded shots to a limited group of patients who required so-called personalized dosages of the medication, which is technically allowed under US Food and Drug Administration rules. Yet Novo didn't see Hims change its business enough in recent weeks, Moore said. Novo has been watching Hims' actions in the month since FDA restrictions on widespread compounding went into effect, he said. Hims didn't adhere to the law prohibiting 'mass sales' of compounded medicines that have been tweaked to be considered personalized, according to Novo, and was 'disseminating deceptive marketing that put patient safety at risk.' Compounded medicines are made by pharmacies and have been allowed in the US to plug the gaps if drugs are in short supply or in order to tweak ingredients slightly. Novo said it's still interested in working with telehealth companies as long as they don't engage in mass marketing of compounded Wegovy. Monday's announcement is a 'clear message' to other partners, according to Moore. Novo has agreements with LifeMD Inc. and Ro. For Hims, the breakup 'creates more questions on where the pathway forward for weight loss goes,' Leerink Partners analyst Michael Cherny said in a note. 'The revenue split from the NovoCare deal would have provided a different profit stream than personalized sales but still would have been quite additive.' Kresge and Muller write for Bloomberg.
