Shares in Novo Nordisk (NYSE:), the Denmark-based maker of the obesity drug Wegovy, fell 1.8% in premarket trading Tuesday after newly released data showed that Eli Lilly’s (NYSE:) rival treatment Mounjaro, leads to faster and greater weight loss.
The analysis, published Monday in the medical journal JAMA Internal Medicine, reviewed health records and other data to compare the weight loss results of overweight and obese individuals who took tirzepatide, the active ingredient in Lilly’s Mounjaro and Zepbound, with those who used semaglutide, the main substance. ingredient in Wegovy and Ozempic from Novo Nordisk.
In the absence of head-to-head randomized controlled trials directly comparing the two drugs, researchers analyzed weight loss trajectories using health records and pharmacy data from 9,193 patients on Mounjaro and an equal number of closely matched patients on Ozempic. The average participant weighed 242 pounds (110 kg), and about half had type 2 diabetes.
After adjusting for individual risk factors, the study found that patients taking Mounjaro were 76% more likely to lose at least 5% of their body weight, more than twice as likely to lose at least 10%, and more than three times as likely to lose to lose. loss at least 15%, compared to that on Ozempic.
“This analysis compared weight loss outcomes of semaglutide (Ozempic) and tirzepatide (Mounjaro) and did not include Wegovy, even though weight loss was the main goal assessed,” Novo Nordisk said in a statement.
The company emphasized that the best way to compare the two drugs is through a head-to-head clinical trial, noting that such a trial has not yet been completed.
Historically, the world’s largest insulin manufacturers, Novo Nordisk and Eli Lilly, have been the first to market highly effective weight-loss drugs. The market for these treatments is booming, and analysts predict it could reach $150 billion in annual sales by the early 2030s.
