Novo Nordisk (NYSE:NVO) said Wednesday that late-stage trial results for its once-daily obesity pill showed “significant” weight reduction and tolerability in line with its blockbuster Wegovy injection, as drugmakers race to get an oral treatment to market.
Results from the phase 3 Oasis 4 trial showed the oral semaglutide pill led to average weight reduction of 16.6% after 64 weeks in patients with obesity or overweight and at least one weight-related comorbidity, the Danish pharmaceutical firm said.
Dubbed the “Wegovy pill,” Novo Nordisk’s Chief Science Officer Martin Holst Lange told reporters that the oral treatment offered patients an important alternative to its existing once-weekly injection.
“Our job was to show that, with the tablet, we could get the same efficacy and the same safety and tolerability as we can with the injectable. That we have now done,” Lange said.
“That basically means that we can offer patients the choice between the tablet and the injectable, and that will make a difference for some patients,” he added.
Novo Nordisk’s oral treatment relies on the same Semaglutide GLP-1 medication that underpins the company’s existing obesity and diabetes treatments, Wegovy and Ozempic. Wegovy was shown to reduce weight by 15% on average in patients with overweight or obesity and at least one weight-related comorbidity in an earlier Novo study.
NVO shares popped $3.68, or 6.3%, to $61.88.
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