Vials on the Wegovy line at the Novo Nordisk A/S production facility in Hillerod, Denmark, Friday, March 8, 2024.
Bloomberg | Bloomberg | getty images
LONDON — Shares in Denmark’s Zealand Pharma surged to a record high on Friday after the company received positive results from an early-stage study of its weight-loss drug challenger.
After surpassing gains of more than 23% during morning trading, gains cooled to around 18% by close.
The company said on Thursday that high doses of the long-acting amylin analog petrelintide administered 16 times weekly resulted in an average loss of up to 8.6% of body weight. The placebo drug reduced body weight by 1.7%.
One in 48 study participants discontinued participation due to negative effects.
Zealand Pharma said in a statement that petrelintide was “judged safe and well-tolerated at all dose levels,” and that the results “provide a strong indication of the potential of petrelintide as an alternative to GLP-1 receptor agonist-based treatments for weight management.” He stated that he had provided “support.”
GLP-1RA-based treatments include the diabetes drug Ozempic, produced by a fellow Danish pharmaceutical company. novo nordisk, a product that has exploded in popularity around the world due to its weight loss effects. Surging demand for Ozempic and obesity drug Wegovy has made Novo Nordisk the most valuable company in Europe.
Over the past few years, competition to produce competing treatments has become more intense, with market leader Novo Nordisk ellie lily in America.
David Kendall, Chief Medical Officer of Zealand Pharma, said: “The Petrelintide study demonstrates that this drug is very well tolerated and could potentially play an important role as an alternative to incretin-based therapies for the management of overweight and obesity. “It supports our confidence,” he said. “
“It could provide similar weight loss to GLP-1 receptor agonists with a better patient experience,” Kendall added.
The company currently plans to test petrelintide in a mid-phase 2 clinical trial.
Jefferies analysts said in a note Thursday that early results suggest the drug “checks all the boxes.” They support “the possible role of amylin as a more acceptable alternative to GLP-1” with the potential for “at least equivalent” weight loss.
Zland Pharma is collaborating with Germany’s Boehringer Ingelheim to separately test the potential weight loss drug survodutide. Positive Phase 2 trial results for the drug in February boosted New Zealand’s share price at the time.
New Zealand pharmaceutical stock price.
