Novo Nordisk’s $475-billion rise and fall as Wegovy-era gains wiped out

Feb 23 (Reuters) – Novo Nordisk shares slumped by more than 16% on Monday, wiping away the remaining gains brought by its blockbuster weight-loss drug Wegovy, after the drugmaker said its next-generation obesity drug CagriSema underperformed Eli Lilly’s rival.

Novo, which in 2024 was worth more than $650 billion, has since shed around $475 billion, with the shares back at levels last seen before Wegovy transformed it into Europe’s most valuable drugmaker.

Novo’s shares fell to their lowest level since June 2021, when Wegovy was first launched, driving a long sales and share price boom that even helped propel Denmark’s wider economy.

Novo shares were among the biggest decliners in Europe’s benchmark STOXX 600 index. Meanwhile, shares of Eli Lilly rose about 4% in U.S. morning trade.

UPHILL BATTLE TO WIN BACK MARKET SHARE

J.P. Morgan analysts said the trial miss was a significant setback that could curb demand for CagriSema, temper long-term sales hopes and leave Novo struggling to win back share in the fast-growing obesity treatment market.

The setback adds to investor worries about intensifying competition in obesity treatments, where demand is increasingly driven by drugs offering the greatest weight-loss results. 

Shares of Novo’s Danish peer Zealand declined 7%, but analysts brushed off broader concerns about its own weight-loss drug, similarly targeting the amylin hormone.

(Reporting by Jesus Calero in Gdansk and Bhanvi Satija in London, editing by Milla Nissi-Prussak and Andrei Khalip)