European markets opened the week on shaky footing, with Danish pharmaceutical giant Novo Nordisk experiencing a significant stock crash. The company's shares slid more than 15% on Monday after its next-generation obesity treatment, CagriSema, failed to meet a key trial goal. The drug did not match the weight loss efficacy of Eli Lilly's tirzepatide (marketed as Zepbound) in a head-to-head study.
The drop erased all of Novo Nordisk's gains since the launch of its blockbuster drug Wegovy, bringing the stock near levels last seen before Wegovy reshaped the company's valuation. Roughly $400 billion was shaved off its peak market capitalization from 2024. J.P. Morgan analysts labeled the CagriSema result a "meaningful setback" that could limit the drug's future demand and make it harder for Novo to regain market share in the booming obesity drug sector.
However, a new development emerged just one day later. On Tuesday, Novo Nordisk and its partner United Laboratories International reported positive mid-stage trial results for another experimental obesity drug, UBT251. In a 24-week Phase 2 trial conducted in China, UBT251 produced a mean weight loss of up to 19.7% in patients, compared to just 2.0% in the placebo group. Patients started from a baseline mean body weight of 92.2 kg.
UBT251 is a "triple G" agonist targeting three hormones: GLP-1, GIP, and glucagon. This mechanism sets it apart from current GLP-1-only drugs like Wegovy and Zepbound. The trial showed the drug had a safe and well-tolerated profile, with mild to moderate gastrointestinal side effects that decreased over time. Beyond weight loss, patients also showed improvements in waist circumference, blood glucose, and blood pressure.
Novo Nordisk secured global rights to UBT251 in March 2025 through a deal with United Laboratories worth up to $2 billion. The agreement gives Novo exclusive rights to develop, manufacture, and commercialize the drug everywhere except mainland China, Hong Kong, Macau, and Taiwan. United Biotechnology, the subsidiary that ran the Chinese trial, now plans to move UBT251 into a late-stage trial in China. Novo Nordisk has separately started its own global trial of the drug, testing different doses in around 330 people for up to 28 weeks, with results expected in 2027.
Novo Nordisk's Chief Scientific Officer, Martin Holst Lange, stated the company is "very encouraged" by the Chinese trial data. This news comes as the company attempts to rebuild its drug pipeline after losing a bidding war to Pfizer for U.S. startup Metsera.
