Titular
Eli Lilly’s actions collapsed 14% on Thursday, marking what would be the largest loss of the company in decades, after the pharmaceutical giant revealed data from its pill for the treatment of obesity that did not meet the expectations of Wall Street.
Key facts
Eli Lilly shares fell more than 14% to around $ 639 at 2:25 pm (EDT), marking what would be the largest loss in a single day for the company from a 29% drop on August 8, 2000.
Eli Lilly published data on its daily pill for obesity, orforglipron, which showed that the medicine helped obese or overweight patients without diabetes to lose just over 12% of their body weight in a final stage trial, below the expectations of 15% analysts, according to Factset.
The highest dose of Eli Lilly’s experimental pill helped more than 59% of patients lose at least 10% of their body weight, while almost 40% of patients lost at least 15%, and the company said that Orforglipron also helped reduce cardiovascular risks.
The results were behind the final stage data of the Novo Nordisk essay, which at the beginning of this year reported an average weight loss of 15% among patients who used an oral version of their Wegovy treatment.
Cita Crucial
Eli Lilly CEO, David Ricks, told CNBC that the company “is not disappointed with these results,” which, he said, were “aligned with our thesis” despite being “one or two points below what (Wall Street) expected.” Ricks said that the average weight loss with Orforglipron was “within the range” of what consumers would like to achieve.
Lee: Eli Lilly plans to launch the drug for diabetes and obesity in the second half of 2025
Surprising data
Previous Orforglipron tests in adults with type 2 diabetes impressed investors in April, after Eli Lilly reported that the highest dose helped patients lose almost 8% of their body weight – approximately 16 pounds on average – in a 40 -week trial. These data coincided with the projections of Wall Street, and Eli Lilly said the results indicated that their pill helped reduce blood sugar levels and had a similar security to the injections for weight loss already available in the market. Eli Lilly’s shares rose more than 14% at that time, one of the company’s greatest daily increases in the last five years.
Related
Novo Nordisk’s actions rose more than 7% on Thursday afternoon after the report of worse results of Eli Lilly.
Key history
Several pharmaceuticals, including Eli Lilly, Pfizer and Novo Nordisk, compete to develop a pill for weight loss after the commercial success of Ozempic and Novo wegovy in recent years. Some health experts have argued that an oral weight loss medication would be cheaper to produce and considerably expand the market against injections, which are the only way available currently. Eli Lilly indicated that he will submit a regulatory approval application for orforglipron before the end of the year, while the treatment of Novo Nordisk is currently in regulatory review, and an FDA decision is expected by the late 2025 liver. Roche and Viking Therapeutics are also developing oral drugs to lose weight, reporting average weight losses of 6.1% and 8.2% in clinical trials of initial and average phase, respectively.
This article was originally published by Forbes US
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