Latest news with #CagriSema
Yahoo
4 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Novo Nordisk's sales increased by 16% in Danish kroner and by 18% at constant exchange rates to DKK 154.9 billion in the first six months of 2025
Bagsværd, Denmark, 6 August 2025 - Financial report for the period 1 January 2025 to 30 June 2025 Operating profit increased by 25% in Danish kroner and 29% at constant exchange rates (CER) to DKK 72.2 billion. Sales in US Operations increased by 16% in Danish kroner (17% at CER). Sales in the US were positively impacted by gross-to-net sales adjustments related to prior years, including an adjustment related to the 340B provision of around DKK 3 billion in the second quarter of 2025. Sales in International Operations increased by 16% in Danish kroner (19% at CER). Sales within Diabetes and Obesity care increased by 16% in Danish kroner to DKK 145.4 billion (18% at CER), mainly driven by Obesity care growth of 56% in Danish kroner to DKK 38.8 billion (58% at CER) and GLP-1 diabetes sales growing 8% in Danish kroner (10% at CER). Rare disease sales increased by 14% measured in Danish kroner (15% at CER). Within R&D, Novo Nordisk will advance subcutaneous and oral amycretin into phase 3 development in weight management based on completed clinical studies during the first quarter of 2025. Further, within obesity, REDEFINE 11 has been initiated to investigate further the potential efficacy and safety of CagriSema, and semaglutide 7.2 mg (a higher dose of Wegovy®) has been submitted to the EU regulatory authorities. For the 2025 outlook, sales growth is now expected to be 8-14% at CER, and operating profit growth is now expected to be 10-16% at CER. Sales and operating profit growth reported in Danish kroner is now expected to be 3 and 5 percentage points lower than at CER, respectively. The lowered sales outlook for 2025 is driven by lower growth expectations for the second half of 2025, reflecting the persistent use of compounded GLP-1s, slower-than-expected market expansion and competition. The outlook is related to lower growth expectations for Wegovy® in the US obesity market, for Ozempic® in the US GLP-1 diabetes market as well as for Wegovy® in select IO markets. Novo Nordisk continues the global rollout of Wegovy® to more markets and invests in commercial activities towards driving market penetration for both Wegovy® and Ozempic®. In July, Novo Nordisk announced that Maziar Mike Doustdar will succeed Lars Fruergaard Jørgensen as president and chief executive officer. Further, Novo Nordisk announced that it has decided to consolidate its research and development areas under the leadership of Martin Holst Lange. Lastly, Emil Kongshøj Larsen will succeed Mike Doustdar as executive vice president, International Operations. All changes are effective 7 August. PROFIT AND LOSS H1 2025 H1 2024 Growthas reported Growthat CER* DKK million Net sales 154,944 133,409 16% 18% Operating profit 72,240 57,780 25% 29% Net profit 55,537 45,457 22% N/A Diluted earnings per share (in DKK) 12.49 10.17 23% N/A * CER: Constant exchange rates (average 2024). Lars Fruergaard Jørgensen, president and CEO: "While delivering 18% sales growth in the first half of 2025, we have lowered our full-year outlook due to lower growth expectations for our GLP-1 treatments in the second half of 2025. As a result, we are taking measures to sharpen our commercial execution further, and ensure efficiencies in our cost base while continuing to invest in future growth. With more than one billion people living with obesity globally, including more than 100 million living in the US, and only a few million on treatment, I am confident that under Mike Doustdar's leadership, Novo Nordisk will maximise the significant growth opportunities, supported by a strong product portfolio and future pipeline".On 6 August 2025 at 13.00 CET, corresponding to 07.00 am EST, an earnings call will be held. Investors will be able to listen in via a link on which can be found under 'Investors' (the contents of the company's website do not form a part of this Form 6-K). About Novo Nordisk Novo Nordisk is a leading global healthcare company founded in 1923 and headquartered in Denmark. Our purpose is to drive change to defeat serious chronic diseases built upon our heritage in diabetes. We do so by pioneering scientific breakthroughs, expanding access to our medicines and working to prevent and ultimately cure disease. Novo Nordisk employs about 78,400 people in 80 countries and markets its products in around 170 countries. Novo Nordisk's B shares are listed on Nasdaq Copenhagen (Novo-B). Its ADRs are listed on the New York Stock Exchange (NVO). For more information, visit Facebook, X, LinkedIn and YouTube. Contacts for further information Media: Ambre James-Brown+45 3079 9289abmo@ Liz Skrbkova (US)+1 609 917 0632lzsk@ Investors: Jacob Martin Wiborg Rode+45 3075 5956jrde@ Sina Meyer+45 3079 6656azey@ Max Ung+45 3077 6414mxun@ Alex Bruce+45 3444 2613axeu@ Christoffer Sho Togo Tullin+45 3079 1471cftu@ Frederik Taylor Pitter (US)+1 609 613 0568fptr@ Company announcement No 20 / 2025 Attachment CA250806-Q2-EarningsError 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
Mint
4 days ago
- Business
- Mint
Stock zoom: Novo's plight offers a lesson on managing market expectations
Next Story Chris Hughes This maker of weight-loss drugs saw its share price zoom and then crash. The CEO has been replaced. The incoming boss will have to be careful not to let market hype get in the way of steady success. It's best to under-promise and over-deliver. Novo's blind spot has been failing to see its share price as an asset to manage—and exploit. Gift this article Ozempic-maker Novo Nordisk saw its shares take a record plunge last week, sending their peak-to-trough collapse to 70% and returning them to levels last seen in 2022. Ozempic-maker Novo Nordisk saw its shares take a record plunge last week, sending their peak-to-trough collapse to 70% and returning them to levels last seen in 2022. The Danish drug giant's purpose may be to improve people's lives, but investors' shrinking gains from its opening of the anti-obesity market matter too. Novo's blind spot has been failing to see its share price as an asset to manage—and exploit. For years, Novo had a relatively quiet life as one member of an insulin oligopoly alongside US peer Eli Lilly & Company and France's Sanofi. While it wasn't a completely smooth ride—2016 was dire—Novo has never seen operational and strategic challenges on the scale it's now facing. In developing Ozempic for diabetes and its sibling Wegovy for weight loss, the company suddenly found itself riding a tiger. Both firms face competition from 'compounding' copycat drugs based on similar chemistry. Shares in the more diversified Eli Lilly have held up better. On a five-year view, Novo is still the world's third-best performing big pharma stock after Eli Lilly and Abbvie. Perhaps if it had made a steadier journey to this point, instead of more than trebling in just over two years before its subsequent slide, there'd have been no drama. Try telling that to Lars Fruergaard Jorgensen. He has been replaced as CEO. The giddy trajectory raises two questions related to what might grubbily be called share-price management. First, Novo should not have let market expectations run away. At issue here was the confidence it expressed that a successor to Wegovy, CagriSema, would achieve 25% weight reduction. This long-held view within the company was expressed even a few weeks before trial data came in at 22.7% in December. That was still impressive, but the stock market was disappointed. Its shares tumbled amid concern that the shortfall would further weaken Novo's competitive position. Company leadership is often overly preoccupied with how to get a share price up. But boards should worry about the stock price in both directions. As the cliché goes: under-promise and over-deliver. Some may say a company can't and shouldn't try to control its share price. But that doesn't let Novo off the hook. Should it not have taken advantage of the strength of its shares by using them as a currency to make an acquisition? That was an opportunity even before the price went into overdrive. Novo could have diversified, say, by buying a biotech firm focused on related areas such heart disease. Instead, Novo's fortunes have yoked largely to Wegovy. The stated objectives for the Novo investment include 'contributing positively to the lives of people" and 'generating competitive long-term financial results." That doesn't mean Novo the foundation or Novo the drugmaker ignores ordinary shareholders. The foundation says it has an 'arm's length relationship" with Novo Nordisk, which in turn is governed by an independent board. It also says it's 'particularly mindful of observing and respecting the rights of other shareholders." Nor has the foundation been passive. It sought the CEO change. And last year it struck a major deal to expand capacity. But the general idea that a long-term anchor shareholder is a good thing needs some qualification. Novo's ownership structure and sheer size protect it from a takeover or shareholder activism: These are the twin threats that otherwise focus boards' attention on their stock price. For a controlling shareholder with an indefinite investment horizon, the short-term share price—whether a bubble is inflating or deflating— is unlikely to be of much concern. In turn, such governance is more likely a brake than a spur to doing anything opportunistic, especially if it involves issuing stock that might change the power dynamics. Small wonder that Novo has historically avoided transformational dealmaking in favour of commercial partnerships and small bolt-ons. Also read: How Ozempic's maker lost its grip on the obesity market it created Long-term business value determines the share price over time. In the meantime, though, markets need to be managed as much as the business. A firm's stock is a resource. New CEO Maziar Mike Doustdar says he doesn't like what happened to the share price. Maybe he gets it. ©Bloomberg Topics You May Be Interested In Catch all the Business News, Market News, Breaking News Events and Latest News Updates on Live Mint. Download The Mint News App to get Daily Market Updates.
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Business Standard
6 days ago
- Business
- Business Standard
Ozempic maker's plight shows why managing markets matter for pharma giants
Ozempic-maker Novo Nordisk A/S saw its shares take a record plunge last week, sending their peak-to-trough collapse to 70 per cent and returning them to levels last seen in 2022. The Danish drug giant's purpose may be to improve people's lives, but investors' shrinking gains from its opening of the anti-obesity market matter too. Novo's blind spot has been failing to see its share price as an asset to manage — and exploit. For years, Novo had a relatively quiet life as one member of an insulin oligopoly alongside US peer Eli Lilly & Co. and France's Sanofi SA. While it wasn't a completely smooth ride — 2016 was dire — Novo has never seen operational and strategic challenges on the scale it's now facing. In developing Ozempic for diabetes and its sibling Wegovy for weight loss, the company suddenly found itself riding a tiger. On a five-year view, Novo is still the world's third-best performing major pharma stock, after Eli Lilly and Abbvie Inc. Perhaps if it had made a steadier journey to this point, instead of more than trebling in just over two years before its subsequent slide, there'd have been no drama. Try telling that to Lars Fruergaard Jorgensen. He has been replaced as chief executive officer. First, Novo should not have let market expectations run away. A key issue here was confidence it expressed that a successor to Wegovy, CagriSema, would achieve 25 per cent weight reduction. This long-held view within the company was expressed even a few weeks before trial data came in at 22.7 per cent in December. That was still an impressive achievement, but the stock market was badly disappointed. The shares tumbled amid concern the shortfall would further weaken Novo's competitive position. Company leadership is often overly preoccupied with how to get a share price up. But boards should worry about the stock price in both directions. As the cliché goes: under-promise and over-deliver. Some may say a company can't and shouldn't try to control its share price. But that doesn't let Novo off the hook. Should it not have taken advantage of the strength of its shares by using them as a currency to make an acquisition? That was an opportunity even before the price went into overdrive. Novo could have diversified, say, by buying a biotech specialising in related areas such heart disease. Instead, Novo's fortunes have yoked largely to Wegovy. It's hard to separate this from the governance of the firm. Novo has a controlling shareholder in the form of the Novo Nordisk Foundation. This has a majority of the votes but a minority economic interest. Such foundation ownership is common in Scandinavia. The stated objectives for the Novo investment include 'contributing positively to the lives of people' and 'generating competitive long-term financial results.' That doesn't mean Novo the foundation or Novo the drugmaker ignores ordinary shareholders. The foundation says it has an 'arm's length relationship' with Novo Nordisk, which in turn is governed by an independent board of directors. It also says it's 'particularly mindful of observing and respecting the rights of other shareholders.' Nor has the foundation been passive. It sought the CEO change. And last year it struck a major deal to expand manufacturing capacity. But the general idea that a long-term anchor shareholder is a good thing needs some qualification. Novo's ownership structure and sheer size protect it from a takeover or shareholder activism: These are the twin threats that otherwise focus boards' attention on their stock price. For a controlling shareholder with an indefinite investment horizon, the short-term share price — whether a bubble is inflating or deflating — is unlikely to be of much concern. In turn, such governance is more likely a brake than a spur to doing anything strategically opportunistic, especially if it involves issuing stock that might change the power dynamics. Small wonder that Novo has historically avoided transformational dealmaking in favour of commercial partnerships and small bolt-ons.
Yahoo
29-07-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
Novo Nordisk Plunges 20% YTD: How Should Investors Play the Stock?
Novo Nordisk NVO shares have plunged 19.9% year to date, following a string of unfavorable outcomes, both pipeline and regulatory, that have led investors to bet against the company. The company reported disappointing data from two late-stage studies for its next-generation subcutaneous obesity candidate, CagriSema, a follow-up drug to Wegovy. In these studies, CagriSema demonstrated a lower-than-expected reduction in body weight, despite meeting the primary endpoints. Earlier, Medicare announced that it will not cover costly weight-loss drugs, including NVO's Wegovy (semaglutide), as obesity remains unclassified as a disease. Consequently, these medications, often viewed as cosmetic, may become less accessible to patients. Novo Nordisk is also currently facing a major transition in its executive management as CEO Lars Fruergaard Jørgensen will step down due to market headwinds and a decline in the company's stock since mid-2024. The search for his successor is currently underway. Moreover, Novo Nordisk faces intense competition from its arch-rival Eli Lilly LLY in the diabetes and obesity care market. LLY markets its tirzepatide injections as Mounjaro for type II diabetes (T2D) and Zepbound for obesity. Despite being on the market for less than three years, Lilly's Mounjaro and Zepbound have witnessed strong sales driven by rapid demand. Zepbound had earlier outperformed Novo Nordisk's Wegovy (20.2% compared with 13.7%, respectively) in a weight-loss head-to-head study. This could lead to a shift in patient preference from Wegovy to Zepbound, potentially resulting in a loss of market share. Lilly has also been taking significant strides in the development of oral therapies for obesity, effectively putting pressure on Novo Nordisk. In April 2025, LLY reported first phase III success for its oral GLP-1 candidate, orforglipron, in lowering blood glucose and promoting weight loss in T2D patients. Oral pills could boost adherence over injections. Additionally, NVO recently ended its collaboration agreement with Hims & Hers Health, which will temporarily hurt its objective of increasing Wegovy's patient access, resulting in a slowdown in obesity market share gain. However, not all is wrong at NVO. Novo Nordisk is making good progress with its pipeline, which includes several other new candidates for T2D and obesity. The company also has strong fundamentals, and the untapped nature of the obesity market makes us believe that the setback is temporary. Let's dig deeper and understand the company's strengths and weaknesses to understand how to play the stock after the recent price drop. Semaglutide - NVO's Growth Engine Novo Nordisk's success in recent years has been driven by its popular semaglutide-based GLP-1 products — Ozempic (injection) and Rybelsus (oral) for T2D, and Wegovy for obesity. The company holds a strong position in diabetes care, with one of the industry's broadest portfolios and a global diabetes market share of 33.3% as of March 2025, led by Rybelsus, Ozempic, and Victoza. It also dominates the GLP-1 segment with a 54% global market share. Wegovy is a major revenue driver, with first-quarter 2025 sales up 83% to DKK 17.4 billion on strong prescription growth. Ozempic also continues to boost overall revenues. To protect its lead amid competition from Lilly, Novo Nordisk is heavily investing in its GLP-1 manufacturing capacity. As of July 1, CVS Caremark, a major pharmacy benefit manager, has designated Wegovy as its preferred GLP-1 therapy for weight loss. Novo Nordisk is expanding semaglutide's reach through new indications. Wegovy is now approved for reducing major cardiovascular events, easing HFpEF symptoms, and relieving osteoarthritis-related knee pain in obesity. Ozempic's label includes use in T2D patients with cardiovascular and kidney disease. The FDA is reviewing Novo Nordisk's application for a 25 mg oral semaglutide for obesity, with a decision expected by year-end. NVO has also filed Rybelsus for cardiac event prevention in T2D and is studying semaglutide for liver disease. A 7.2 mg Wegovy dose, showing up to 25% weight loss in the STEP UP study, is under EU review. Label expansion is also being sought for Ozempic in treating peripheral artery disease in the United States and the EU. Beyond GLP-1s, Novo Nordisk is expanding into rare diseases, with regulatory plans for Mim8 (hemophilia A) and EU approval of Alhemo (hemophilia A/B with inhibitors). It also expects to file for semaglutide in metabolic dysfunction–associated steatohepatitis in both the United States and the EU in 2025. NVO Focuses on Next-Generation Drugs for Obesity Novo Nordisk is also developing several next-generation obesity candidates in its pipeline, especially targeting the lucrative U.S. market. The most advanced weight loss candidate in Novo Nordisk's pipeline is CagriSema, a fixed-dose combination of a long-acting amylin analogue and Wegovy. The company is already planning its regulatory submission in 2026. Novo Nordisk is also developing a small-molecule oral CB1 inverse agonist, monlunabant, in a mid-stage study. The company is currently gearing up to advance Amycretin, an investigational unimolecular GLP-1 and amylin receptor agonist, for weight management into late-stage development. The phase III program on amycretin is planned to be initiated during the first quarter of 2026. Recently, Novo Nordisk signed a $2.2 billion deal with Septerna for developing and commercializing oral small-molecule medicines for treating obesity, T2D and other cardiometabolic diseases. Competition Heating Up in the Obesity Space Competition in the obesity market is heating up as the obesity market is expected to expand to $100 billion by 2030, according to data from Goldman Sachs. Lilly and Novo Nordisk presently dominate the market. Several other companies like Amgen AMGN and Viking Therapeutics VKTX are also making rapid progress in the development of GLP-1-based candidates in their clinical pipeline. Amgen has begun a broad phase III program on its dual GIPR/GLP-1 receptor agonist, MariTide, across obesity, obesity-related conditions and T2D, with the first two phase III studies initiated in March. Viking Therapeutics' dual GIPR/GLP-1 receptor agonist, VK2735, is being developed both as oral and subcutaneous formulations for the treatment of obesity. Viking Therapeutics recently launched the late-stage VANQUISH program for subcutaneous VK2735 in obesity and T2D, following the initiation of the mid-stage VENTURE study on the oral version earlier this year. NVO's Stock Price, Valuation, Estimates In the past year, Novo Nordisk shares have lost 51.1% compared with the industry's 17% decline. The company has also underperformed the sector and the S&P 500 during the same time frame, as seen in the chart below. The stock is currently trading below its 50 and 200-day moving averages. NVO Stock Underperforms the Industry, Sector & the S&P 500 Image Source: Zacks Investment Research Novo Nordisk is trading at a premium to the industry, as seen in the chart below. Going by the price/earnings ratio, the company's shares currently trade at 16 forward earnings, which is higher than 15.12 for the industry. However, the stock is trading much below its five-year mean of 29.25. NVO Stock Valuation Image Source: Zacks Investment Research Earnings estimates for 2025 have improved from $3.85 to $3.98 per share over the past 60 days. During the same time frame, Novo Nordisk's 2026 earnings per share estimates have declined from $4.65 to $4.59. NVO Estimate Movement Image Source: Zacks Investment Research The stock's return on equity on a trailing 12-month basis is 80.95%, which is higher than 33.55% for the large drugmaker industry, as seen in the chart below. NVO Return on Equity Image Source: Zacks Investment Research Here's How to Play NVO Stock Novo Nordisk, currently carrying a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold), has the potential to boost shareholders' wealth in the future. Despite past pipeline and regulatory setbacks, along with the ongoing transition in leadership, we remain confident that NVO is a good stock to retain. The company operates in a lucrative market that is rapidly expanding. Its strong year-over-year revenues and profits, fueled by rising demand for Wegovy and Ozempic, suggest long-term potential. You can see the complete list of today's Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here. The company is actively working to expand the approved uses of its key semaglutide products, Wegovy, Ozempic, and Rybelsus, which could significantly increase the eligible patient pool and drive future revenues. However, Eli Lilly remains a formidable adversary in the obesity market space, which threatens NVO's market share. Hence, we can conclude that investors currently holding the NVO stock should not get spooked by the recent downtrend in the stock price. In fact, new Investors can use the current dip in the price to acquire the stock to enjoy significant value creation in the long run. Short-term investors are, however, advised to steer clear of the stock to avoid near-term volatility. Want the latest recommendations from Zacks Investment Research? Today, you can download 7 Best Stocks for the Next 30 Days. Click to get this free report Novo Nordisk A/S (NVO) : Free Stock Analysis Report Eli Lilly and Company (LLY) : Free Stock Analysis Report Amgen Inc. (AMGN) : Free Stock Analysis Report Viking Therapeutics, Inc. (VKTX) : Free Stock Analysis Report This article originally published on Zacks Investment Research ( Zacks Investment Research 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
Medscape
25-07-2025
- Health
- Medscape
ADA 2025: Clinical Trial Data on Incretin Therapies
This transcript has been edited for clarity. At the ADA meetings this year, incretin therapies were a big topic. There were many, many different studies presented on all sorts of new drugs and older drugs, and a large amount of interest in this. What I'm going to try to do is make it simple, and you're going to have to forgive me because many of these drugs have names that are almost impossible to pronounce. As far as I can tell, there were three main areas that involved incretins. One was newer agents that were different combinations of different kinds of drugs. I'm going to touch on those main areas where there were differences. The second is in terms of the forms for delivery, specifically a new oral form of incretin therapy that might be easier for patients to take. Third, longer duration of activity of these agents that might make it even easier for our patients to adhere to. First, I'm going to go to different combinations. The first is CagriSema, which is semaglutide plus cagrilintide, which is a long-acting human amylin analog. We all were familiar with amylin from a long while ago, as we had pramlintide. This takes that amylin analog and mixes it with a dose of 2.4 mg of semaglutide. The studies that they did are called REDEFINE, and they presented the full results of the phase 3 REDEFINE trials. In most of the studies on these newer agents, they basically study them in people who are overweight or obese without type 2 diabetes, as well as in people who are overweight or obese with type 2 diabetes. REDEFINE 1 looked at 3417 people who were overweight or obese and who didn't have type 2 diabetes. They saw 20% weight loss with this new agent compared to 15% with semaglutide 2.4 mg, or 12% weight loss with cagrilintide alone. In REDEFINE 2, there were 1206 people with obesity and type 2 diabetes compared to placebo. CagriSema conferred a 13.7% weight loss vs 3.4% with placebo. That's fairly standard for many of these drugs. You get weight loss and A1c reduction, and it's always a bit more in people without diabetes than those who have diabetes. Moving on to the next combination. There was the DREAMS-1 trial, looking at a once-weekly GLP-1 receptor agonist combined with a glucagon receptor agonist, which is called mazdutide. It was studied in people in China with type 2 diabetes. This showed a nice A1c reduction and significant weight loss at 24 weeks. This was a study in 319 individuals who were living in China. They had a number of different arms to this study, so they had a 4-mg dose, a 6-mg dose, and placebo. The study lasted for 24 weeks, and they saw A1c reductions of 1.4%-2%. There was weight loss that varied depending on the dose, at 5.6% or 7.8% in the two different arms. There were similar side effects. I think one of the truths of all of these trials is that the GI side effects occur with nearly all of these agents, some to a greater degree than others, but those were the major side effects in terms of this agent. They're now studying it in other individuals with type 2 diabetes. They compared it to dulaglutide and found a greater A1c reduction than with dulaglutide in one trial. They're also looking at it for weight loss in people without diabetes. There are a number of trials that are ongoing that will give us more data in terms of what this combination does in people with obesity and type 2 diabetes. The next trial is one that I find oddly fascinating, which is called the BELIEVE trial. Believe it or not, this is a trial in which they took semaglutide and mixed it with a monoclonal antibody that blocks activin type II receptors, with the hopes that that will improve muscle mass, maintain lean body mass, and decrease fat mass as people lose weight with this combination. They studied it in people who were living with obesity or overweight without type 2 diabetes, and they basically had a number of different comparisons. The monoclonal antibody is called bimagrumab. It's something that I'm not familiar with, but it was really interesting in terms of its effect. They had a number of different groups: a placebo group, a low-dose bimagrumab group, a high-dose bimagrumab group, a low-dose semaglutide group, and a high-dose semaglutide group, and then they had four different combination groups with low-dose or high-dose bimagrumab. They looked at all of these different permutations in a study sample size that was 507 individuals. They were hoping to see less loss of lean body mass, and they basically showed this. There was a 7.9% reduction in lean body mass with semaglutide alone, but if you gave them the monoclonal antibody, there was a 2.3% gain in lean body mass. When you combined the monoclonal antibody with semaglutide, you got a lesser reduction in lean body mass, a 2.6% reduction, which was compared to the 7.9% reduction with semaglutide alone. This is hopeful in the sense that this specific combination helps people lose less lean body mass. There were a whole bunch of other analyses they did to see about people being stronger and feeling better. It really does matter to not lose so much lean body mass. I'm still old fashioned and I really want to encourage people to exercise and eat well in order to help preserve lean body mass. We'll see what happens with this. I think it's a fascinating concept, but I also don't want to forget about lifestyle. The next trial was called ACHIEVE-1, and this was looking at an oral form of a GLP-1 receptor agonist known as orforglipron. They studied this in people with type 2 diabetes. What's different about this is that this is a small molecule. It's not a peptide GLP-1, so it's really easy to give. It's like any old pill that people take, so it doesn't have restrictions around how much water and when it's taken, etc. They did see benefit in terms of A1c reduction, some weight loss, about 8%, and it seemed like it worked, but it did have GI side effects and it didn't cause the same sort of A1c reduction or weight loss we see with some of the other injectable compounds. Still, it might be an interesting first step for people as they get used to GLP-1 receptor agonist therapy, and it may be easier for patients to take. The final compound I'm going to discuss is MariTide. This is a compound that is a GLP-1 receptor agonist and a GIP antagonist. This is a once-a-month agent. This was a 52-week trial in individuals who were obese or overweight without type 2 diabetes. They basically had three different doses they were studying and they did a bunch of different dosing frequencies. It seemed to me to be effective in terms of weight loss, as most of these drugs are, but it did have an incredibly high rate of GI side effects. When you look at that study in individuals without type 2 diabetes, the rates of nausea and vomiting were really high. At baseline, 25% of placebo patients reported nausea. In the treatment group, nausea was reported in 77%-87% of participants and vomiting was reported in 68%-92%. It usually occurred after the very first dose of the drug, with an incidence decreasing over time. I've never used a drug that had such a high rate of vomiting — nausea, potentially, but not vomiting. GI side effects were the main reason for people stopping it, and 14%-29% of individuals discontinued the drug due to adverse events. They also did a study in people with type 2 diabetes. It's interesting because they used a different survey to assess GI side effects, but they still had a very high rate of GI side effects, at 94% in the MariTide group vs 81% in the placebo group. Again, the most common GI side effects were nausea, vomiting, constipation, and diarrhea. Nausea rates ranged from 41% to 59% of people taking the MariTide, with vomiting in 45%-75% of participants. These GI side effects are really clear here, and I don't know that this is going to be something people are going to want to take. Once a month is nice, but it's not fun to vomit. I think it depends on how quickly people habituate to this and how one goes up on the dose. These GI side effects are an issue for all of us and our patients as we prescribe these drugs. I tend to start as low as I possibly can. I'm a fan of microdosing as much as possible to get people to tolerate these drugs because I think that the incretin class of drugs is so beneficial, not only in terms of glucose and weight loss, but also in its nonglycemic effects. I also don't want people to lose weight too fast because I think that it isn't healthy. I know that there are studies that are coming out that show that there are people who respond by very rapid weight loss, more commonly in women than in men. I think we need to be mindful of how we use these drugs, how quickly people lose weight, and how we encourage people in terms of leading a healthier lifestyle to avoid some of the side effects that can be associated with that sort of rapid weight loss. This has been Dr Anne Peters for Medscape.
