“Overall, we view the safety\/tolerability as disappointing for [Zealand], despite data confirming some interesting body-composition\/liver signals,” said Barclays analysts in a note on Monday.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The high discontinuation rate, with more than 40% of patients reporting vomiting, might limit the drug’s commercial potential as a treatment for obesity or those suffering from fatty liver disease, the analysts added.<\/p>\n
Shares of Zealand Pharma were last seen down 25%, firmly at the bottom of the pan-European Stoxx 600<\/a> index. It adds to a nearly 50% drop year-to-date.<\/p>\n Survodutide was tested in adults living with obesity or overweight adults, without type 2 diabetes, over 76 weeks. Topline data announced in April showed average weight loss of up to 16.6% versus 3.2% with the placebo.<\/p>\n Analysts at Citi wrote in a note on Monday: “A 19% treatment discontinuation rate due to… adverse events… is not a rounding error, and nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, and constipation incidence at the levels reported here sit well above what we consider commercially viable against [rival drugs] tirzepatide and semaglutide.”<\/p>\n The full survodutide data comes about three months after Zealand stock suffered its worst day on record<\/a> when a trial of another of its experimental anti-obesity drugs, petrelintide, disappointed investors with lower-than-expected weight loss statistics.\u00a0<\/p>\n Further data on petrelintide disclosed on Friday provided “incremental detail around [its] clinical profile, but little to change our view since the topline in March,” said Barclays. <\/p>\n Petrelintide, which Zealand is developing together with Roche, looks attractive in terms of tolerability, but efficacy does not look as strong as Eli Lilly’s amylin,\u00a0eloralintide, or other already available incretin\u200b-\u200bbased obesity treatments, they added.<\/p>\n Weight loss drug market expands<\/p>\n The market for weight loss drugs is currently dominated by Novo Nordisk<\/a>, which sells semaglutide under the brand names Wegovy and Ozempic, and Eli Lilly<\/a>, which sells tirzepatide as Zepbound and Mounjaro.<\/p>\n But a flurry of hopeful market entrants are testing their own anti-obesity drugs, including Zealand Pharma, which is partnering with bigger drugmakers Roche<\/a> and Boehringer Ingelheim, and heavyweights like Amgen<\/a> and AstraZeneca<\/a>.<\/p>\n Heightened competition has increased the pressure on companies to differentiate their products. Muscle mass preservation, oral options<\/a>, obesity-related diseases, and weight management are some areas companies are targeting to build their share of the lucrative market. <\/p>\n While Novo’s Wegovy and Lilly’s Foundayo pills have dominated, more players are about to enter the market, Investec analyst Jimmy Muchechetere told CNBC’s “Squawk Box Europe” on Monday.<\/p>\n As for Zealand Pharma, it has long called for an end to what it calls the “weight loss olympics,” and says there is an outsized focus on percentage weight loss achieved. <\/p>\n![\"Wegovy](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/108274720-1772799977851-gettyimages-2185287957-20241117-christo-wegovy-1053.jpeg\")
<\/a>Zealand’s stock plummets after disappointing drug result. Its CEO tells CNBC people need to focus less on the ‘weight loss Olympics’<\/a><\/p>\n