Shares of Novo Nordisk (NVO) dropped more than 5% on Monday after the pharmaceutical company released trial results for its latest weight-loss drug, CagriSema, which fell short of investor expectations.
In two separate 68-week Phase 3 trials, obese and overweight patients lost an average of 22.7% and 15.7% of their body weight, respectively, while on the drug. While promising, the results did not meet the anticipated 25% average weight loss target the company had reportedly been aiming for.
About 40% of patients in the first trial lost at least 25% of their body weight, and nearly 25% lost 30% or more. Just 6% of participants discontinued treatment, mainly due to gastrointestinal side effects such as nausea and constipation.
In the second trial, which focused on overweight or obese individuals with type 2 diabetes, the average weight loss was 15.7%. Novo Nordisk said the safety profile in this trial was similar to the first.
“CagriSema Yet to Achieve Reported Goal of 25% Average Weight Loss”
Investors reacted negatively, with some expressing concern over CagriSema’s performance compared to existing drugs. Compounding the pressure, competitor Eli Lilly’s (LLY) treatments Mounjaro and Zepbound — along with other weight-loss drugs in its pipeline — have shown greater effectiveness than Novo’s Ozempic and Wegovy in clinical trials.
As a result, Novo Nordisk’s U.S.-listed shares have fallen 20% year-to-date and are down roughly 50% over the past year.
Novo Cuts Ties With Hims & Hers Amid Legal Accusations
Adding to the turbulence, Novo Nordisk also announced Monday that it is ending its partnership with digital pharmacy Hims & Hers Health (HIMS). The company accused Hims of “illegal mass compounding and deceptive marketing” related to semaglutide, the active ingredient in Wegovy.
“Hims & Hers … has failed to adhere to the law which prohibits mass sales of compounded drugs under the false guise of ‘personalization,'” Novo said in a statement.
Hims & Hers’ stock plummeted nearly 35% following the announcement. Novo said it would no longer allow the company to prescribe Wegovy via its telehealth platform, just weeks after the partnership was announced.
Novo also claimed Hims was illegally selling copycat versions of semaglutide while still offering the branded drug.
Hims & Hers declined to respond to Yahoo Finance’s request for comment. However, CEO Andrew Dudum later posted on X, saying Novo was pressuring the company to “steer patients to Wegovy.”
“We refuse to be strong-armed by any pharmaceutical company’s anticompetitive demands that infringe on the independent decision making of providers and limit patient choice,” Dudum wrote.
The now-defunct agreement had been part of a broader trend among pharmaceutical companies to bridge access to GLP-1 drugs after compounded versions were restricted or removed from the market. But the dispute has now turned into a high-stakes legal and commercial conflict that threatens to reshape how telehealth companies and drugmakers collaborate going forward.
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