Novo Nordisk exec: oral weight-loss drug will have similar efficacy as Wegovy

[May 05, 2023]  COPENHAGEN/
LONDON (Reuters) - Novo Nordisk expects the oral version of its semaglutide drug to treat obesity to have similar efficacy as its Wegovy injection, with data from a late-stage clinical trial due before the end of June, a senior executive said on Thursday.

Head of development Martin Holst Lange was discussing the trial called OASIS 1 on a call with analysts following the release of better-than-expected first-quarter results by the Danish drugmaker.

He said the final results of the trial for the once-daily pill are not yet available, but based on the data for the same pill to treat diabetes, the company would expect to see similar efficacy and safety to Wegovy.

The company's hugely popular Wegovy therapy is a weekly injection. The treatment belongs to a class of drugs known as GLP-1 agonists originally developed to treat type 2 diabetes.

A coffee machine featuring Novo Nordisk logo is seen at the company headquarters in Copenhagen, Denmark, February 5, 2020. REUTERS/Jacob Gronholt-Pedersen

"An oral offering in the obesity space holds a really strong potential," Lange said, adding the company had learned that some patients and prescribing doctors would prefer a pill form of the semaglutide drug over the injection form.

(Reporting by Nikolaj Skydsgaard in Copenhagen and Maggie Fick in London; Writing by Josephine Mason; Editing by Mark Potter)

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