SAN DIEGO: Novo Nordisk (NOVOb.CO) announced on Sunday that a late-stage trial discovered that a high-dose oral version of its medicine semaglutide helped overweight or obese adults lose 15% of their body weight, which is in line with recent findings for other experimental obesity pills.
According to Mico Guevarra, medical director at Novo Nordisk, Novo aims to seek approval from regulators for the high-dose pill in the United States and Europe later this year, but the market launch date is “to be determined.” The Danish firm has failed to meet growing US demand for Wegovy and Ozempic, the respective brand names for semaglutide supplied as once-weekly injections for treating obesity and diabetes. Semaglutide (2.4mg) is present in Wegovy.
The medicine is part of a new class that has sparked researcher and investor interest in the weight-loss treatment market, which is expected to exceed $100 billion by the end of the decade.
Guevarra stated in an interview on the sidelines of the American Diabetes Association’s annual meeting here that they are increasing production as much as possible. Novo Nordisk already markets an oral semaglutide under the trade name Rybelsus to treat type 2 diabetes, however, the maximum dose is 14mg.
In a late-stage trial of 667 obese and overweight people, a 50mg dose resulted in an average weight loss of 15.1% after 68 weeks when administered along with diet and physical activity, compared to 2.4% for the placebo group. These findings are consistent with preliminary data from the late-stage trial which the company announced in May.
