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February 25, 2026 \u2014 5:00am<\/p>\n
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Remove items from your saved list<\/a> to add more.<\/p>\n Save this article for later<\/p>\n Add articles to your saved list and come back to them anytime.<\/p>\n Got it<\/p>\n AAA<\/p>\n Novo Nordisk\u2019s next-generation weight-loss drug CagriSema has been labelled obsolete before it even hits the market after the pharma giant\u2019s trial results failed to match the performance of existing obesity drugs from rival Eli Lilly.<\/p>\n Novo\u2019s shares dived more than 16 per cent on the news and are trading at levels last seen in 2021, back before the company started the anti-obesity GLP-1 craze. Novo had a market monopoly on the injectable weight-loss drugs until competition emerged last year.<\/p>\n The trigger for the latest share dump<\/a> was a market announcement on Monday in Denmark revealing that people treated with a standard dose of Novo\u2019s CagriSema in a trial achieved 20.2 per cent weight loss after 84 weeks, compared with 23.6 per cent for Lilly\u2019s tirzepatide.<\/p>\n A spokesman said the results showed the new drug \u201cwas not deemed \u2018non-inferior\u2019 to (Eli Lilly\u2019s) tirzepatide, in this particular trial at least.\u201d<\/p>\n Outsiders had a more brutal interpretation.<\/p>\n Related Article \u201cThe trial has backfired,\u201d Michael Shah, a Bloomberg Intelligence analyst, said. \u201cThe base case\u201d was CagriSema showing weight loss in line with Zepbound, Eli Lilly\u2019s brand name for tirzepatide. Not even achieving that, he said, \u201cwas unexpected and extends Lilly\u2019s advantage.\u201d<\/p>\n Chris O\u2019Donnell, founder of Australian health group My Weight Loss Clinic, is more sanguine about this race for the best results.<\/p>\n \u201cThe reality is, is that we need a range of different compounds, because they\u2019re not going to suit everybody,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n And he points out these controlled trials are very different from the real experience of many users who don\u2019t get the same support. Data in Australia shows that, without proper support, the average user is only on the medication for nine to 12 weeks.<\/p>\n \u201cSo the typical Australian is only taking this medication for around about three months, and then is stopping.\u201d<\/p>\n Dr Kieran Dang, the chief medical officer at Mosh, also played down the weight-loss metrics from the trial.<\/p>\n \u201cBoth are large amounts of weight that is more than what many people using medical weight loss products are aiming for,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s important that patients always combine these medications with a structured weight loss program. In the real world, this can often make a much larger difference than which medication is used,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n Novo has innovations that may help, like its consumer anti-obesity drug Wegovy being available in pill form in the US. But Lilly\u2019s Zepbound, sold in Australia as Mounjaro, has been widely accepted here as a more effective weight-loss drug.<\/p>\n It\u2019s reflected in the fact that Novo has now lost 60 per cent of its market valuation over the last year and wiped out $US475 billion ($672 billion) of shareholder wealth since it peaked in 2024 at more than $US600 billion, when it was Europe\u2019s most valuable company.<\/p>\n The Danish group\u2019s unassailable market has now been devoured by Eli Lilly, generic rivals, and Donald Trump\u2019s push to lower pharmaceutical costs for Americans.<\/p>\n Novo\u2019s chief scientific officer Martin Holst Lange told Bloomberg that additional studies needed to be done to assess CagriSema\u2019s \u201cfull weight-loss potential.\u201d<\/p>\n A spokesperson said: \u201cbecause of the large unmet need in obesity, and CagriSema\u2019s strong weight-loss profile, cardiometabolic benefits (heart, liver, kidney) and the proven efficacy of semaglutide with more than 49 million patient years of exposure, we are fully committed to continue studying and launching CagriSema in 2027 \u2026 we believe in the power of this biology.\u201d<\/p>\n Earlier, Novo chief executive Maziar Mike Doustdar bristled in response to an analyst\u2019s question about how he might move quickly on a new experimental medicine now that \u201cCagriSema looks somewhat obsolete.\u201d<\/p>\n He said CagriSema showed better weight-loss results than competitors in the kind of large-scale trials used for regulatory approvals.<\/p>\n Doustdar was already under pressure after Novo\u2019s financial results early this month, when it forecast a 13 per cent decline in sales this year as the price war for obesity drugs hit sales and its bottom line.<\/p>\n And Eli Lilly is not the only competition.<\/p>\n This month, Novo sued obesity drug retailer Hims & Hers, alleging infringement on its IP with a \u201cknock-off\u201d version of Wegovy. Hims & Hers, which has sold its own brand versions of the semaglutide obesity drug, pulled the product and its shares declined sharply in response.<\/p>\n Hims & Hers acquired Aussie weight loss start-up Eucalyptus<\/a> last week, which has offered a similar business model to its new owner, for $1.6 billion. The US company has the right to pay for much of that with its shares, which have lost more than 50 per cent of their value in the year to date.<\/p>\n On Monday (US time), Hims & Hers confirmed it forecasts sales within market expectations for the year – provided it could continue to sell its own version of the top brand weight-loss drugs.<\/p>\n Novo says it will continue testing of its latest obesity drug.<\/p>\n Related Article \u201cWe will also initiate a new Phase 3 CagriSema high-dose trial in the second half of 2026, aiming to expand treatment options for people with obesity,\u201d a company spokesperson said.<\/p>\n With Bloomberg<\/p>\n The Business Briefing newsletter delivers major stories, exclusive coverage and expert opinion. Sign up to get it every weekday morning<\/a>.<\/p>\n Save<\/p>\n You have reached your maximum number of saved items.<\/p>\n Remove items from your saved list<\/a> to add more.<\/p>\n![\"Novo](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/d65d961a9e12b8e7eb03d476c2e58a574bfc2c7b.jpeg\")
Novo Nordisk has struggled with competition in the obesity drug race. Bloomberg<\/p>\n![\"Jessica](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/1771990217_201_48c70845d58a798543eee73598591e5a1185888f.jpeg\")
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Novo had a market monopoly on the injectable weight-loss drugs until rivals like Eli Lilly released their own products. Bloomberg<\/p>\n![\"As](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/1771990218_197_2315e0d83d2d76c46b5567a8ca4daac58e3e1888.jpeg\")
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Colin Kruger<\/a> is a senior business reporter for the Sydney Morning Herald and The Age.Connect via email<\/a>.From our partners<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"February 25, 2026 \u2014 5:00am Save You have reached your maximum number of saved items. Remove items from…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":502300,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[64,63,99],"class_list":{"0":"post-502299","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-business","8":"tag-au","9":"tag-australia","10":"tag-business"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/502299","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=502299"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/502299\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/502300"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=502299"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=502299"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=502299"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}