By Elsa Ohlen
Novo Nordisk's blockbuster drug Ozempic got another star added to its label Thursday, in an encouraging sign for the broadening of the markets for GLP-1 drugs beyond weight-loss and diabetes. Yet, strides by its U.S. rival Eli Lilly seemed to overshadow the win.
The European Medicines Agency (EMA) adopted a positive opinion for an update of the Ozempic label to reflect the risk reduction of the drug in therapy in chronic kidney disease-related events, Novo said in a statement Thursday.
"Ozempic will become the first and only GLP-1 receptor agonist to show lowering of risk of kidney disease progression in adults with Type 2 diabetes and chronic kidney disease," said Martin Holst Lange, executive vice president for Development.
Novo has also filed for a label expansion in the U.S. and said a decision is expected in the first half of 2025.
GLP-1 drugs refer to a class of drugs that help control appetite and blood sugar levels by mimicking the GLP-1 hormone. Novo sells its GLP-1 drug Semaglutide under the name Ozempic for diabetes treatment and Wegovy for weight-loss.
Novo Nordisk's American depositary receipts, or ADRs, were falling 0.7% in premarket trading Friday, adding to a 2.8% loss on Thursday. Novo's Copenhagen-listed shares were down 2.6% in afternoon trading in Denmark.
That might be because of progress made by its main competitor Eli Lilly. On Wednesday, Lilly announced that it will start selling its weight-loss drug Zepbound through the privately held telehealth company Ro.
Lilly's weight-loss drug is also preferred over Wegovy by Britons who are paying for the drug privately, Reuters reported Thursday, citing online pharmacies. That could indicate that Lilly is taking market share from its European rival.
Eli Lilly and Novo Nordisk are currently the only drugmakers with approved GLP-1 medicines on the market. While Novo was first to get the drug approved, Lilly is quickly catching up. Lilly published a study last week which found Zepbound more effective than Wegovy in treating weight-loss.
The booming demand for weight-loss drugs has led both stocks to skyrocket over the past two years as well as made Novo Europe's most valuable company.
Lately, the market has been disappointed with GLP-1 sales and started wondering if they may have overestimated the future demand for the treatments. Novo shares are down 21% over the past three months while Lilly shares have fallen 15%.
With GLP-1 drugs being approved for treating conditions other than obesity and diabetes, the market for these medicines is expanding. GLP-1s have also been shown effective to treat cardiovascular disease and obstructive sleep apnea.
New entrants such as Amgen, Roche and Viking Therapeutics -- all currently developing their own weight-loss drugs -- are making the weight-loss space increasingly crowded and competitive. But there could be plenty of growth still in the cards for Novo Nordisk, especially if the market for GLP-1s continues to expand.
Write to Elsa Ohlen at elsa.ohlen@barrons.com
This content was created by Barron's, which is operated by Dow Jones & Co. Barron's is published independently from Dow Jones Newswires and The Wall Street Journal.
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
December 13, 2024 08:32 ET (13:32 GMT)
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