BREAKINGVIEWS-Novo Nordisk obesity feast no longer a free lunch

(The author is a Reuters Breakingviews columnist. The opinions expressed are her own.)

By Aimee Donnellan

LONDON, July 18 (Reuters Breakingviews) - The $603 bln drug group’s shares have more than trebled since 2021 on the back of booming sales of weight-loss treatment Wegovy. To justify that, it will need to keep coming up with new, even better products, and fend off rivals like Pfizer. Neither looks certain.

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CONTEXT NEWS

Roche said on July 17 that a second drug candidate from its purchase of Carmot Therapeutics yielded positive results in an early-stage trial, as the Swiss drugmaker asserted itself as a late contender in the race to develop obesity drugs. Novo Nordisk’s shares fell nearly 4% on the news.

Pfizer said on July 11 that it plans to move a reworked, once-a-day version of its weight-loss pill danuglipron into clinical trials later this year.

The new drug is part of the second generation of weight-loss pills under development by companies including Eli Lilly and Novo Nordisk that will offer patients a more convenient alternative to injections.

(Editing by Neil Unmack and Oliver Taslic)

((For previous columns by the author, Reuters customers can click on Aimee.Donnellan@thomsonreuters.com))