Novo Nordisk sinks after Ozempic’s key ingredient fails to slow down Alzheimer’s in trials

Novo Nordisk is down nearly 8% in trading in Europe, with its US-listed ADRs dropping a similar amount, after the pharma giant shared that oral semaglutide — a key ingredient behind its Ozempic and Wegovy drugs — didn’t slow Alzheimer’s disease in two trials.

Per the company’s press release, oral semaglutide failed to show a statistically significant reduction in early-stage Alzheimer’s disease progression compared to a placebo across two large-scale, late-stage trials. From the release:

“The two trials were randomised, double-blinded, enrolled a total of 3808 adults and evaluated the efficacy and safety of oral semaglutide compared to placebo on top of standard of care.”

Treatment with semaglutide did result in improvement of some Alzheimer’s disease-related biomarkers, but it “did not translate into a delay of disease progression.”

Noting that the trials were conducted “despite a low likelihood of success” from the start, Chief Scientific Officer Martin Holst Lange commented that “while semaglutide did not demonstrate efficacy in slowing the progression of Alzheimer’s disease, the extensive body of evidence supporting semaglutide continues to provide benefits for individuals with type 2 diabetes, obesity, and related comorbidities.”

Injectable semaglutide, sold under the brand names Ozempic and Wegovy, is approved in the US and EU to treat diabetes, obesity, and heart conditions. Expanding the list of conditions its blockbuster drug can treat could be a lifeline for the company as it loses ground in the weight-loss and diabetes market to Eli Lilly.

Lilly, notably, also makes Kisunla, an injection that treats early-stage Alzheimer's disease. The drug, which was approved last year, is expected to make $224.4 million in revenue this year.