{"id":4481,"date":"2025-11-27T13:31:27","date_gmt":"2025-11-27T13:31:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/marketsfortress.com\/index.php\/2025\/11\/27\/novo-nordisk-says-alzheimers-trial-with-older-glp-1-drug-fails\/"},"modified":"2025-11-27T13:31:27","modified_gmt":"2025-11-27T13:31:27","slug":"novo-nordisk-says-alzheimers-trial-with-older-glp-1-drug-fails","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/marketsfortress.com\/index.php\/2025\/11\/27\/novo-nordisk-says-alzheimers-trial-with-older-glp-1-drug-fails\/","title":{"rendered":"Novo Nordisk says Alzheimer’s trial with older GLP-1 drug fails"},"content":{"rendered":"

Novo Nordisk said on Monday<\/a> an older oral version of its semaglutide drug failed to meet its main goal in late-stage trials testing whether the medicine can slow cognitive decline in Alzheimer\u2019s patients<\/a>, sending its share price down 10%.<\/p>\n

The setback is a blow to hopes that Alzheimer\u2019s could open a major new market for GLP-1 medicines such as semaglutide, as Novo faces rising competition to its blockbuster drugs in its core treatment areas of obesity and diabetes.<\/p>\n

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Alzheimer\u2019s patients currently have limited treatment options. Novo’s trial was being closely watched<\/a> as an indication about whether GLP-1 drugs \u2014 used by millions for diabetes and weight loss \u2014 might slow disease progress<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The drug tested was Rybelsus, a pill approved only for type 2 diabetes. Like Novo\u2019s blockbusters Ozempic and Wegovy, it contains semaglutide.<\/p>\n

The company\u2019s Executive Vice President for Product and Portfolio Strategy, Ludovic Helfgott, had described the Alzheimer\u2019s trials as a \u201clottery ticket\u201d<\/a> in September, a reference to its uncertain prospects yet huge potential.<\/p>\n

Alzheimer\u2019s disease and other dementias affect more than 55 million people globally. There is no cure.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhile semaglutide did not demonstrate efficacy in slowing the progression of Alzheimer\u2019s disease, the extensive body of evidence supporting semaglutide continues to provide benefits for individuals with Type 2 diabetes, obesity, and related comorbidities,\u201d Chief Scientific Officer Martin Holst Lange said in a statement.<\/p>\n

The results from the two trials of early-stage patients, called EVOKE and EVOKE+, are another setback for the Danish drugmaker and new CEO Mike Doustdar, which had seen booming success<\/a>, driven by Ozempic and Wegovy, before slowing sales growth and a tumbling share price prompted a CEO change<\/a> and mass layoffs<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The setback reinforces analyst skepticism about Novo\u2018s Alzheimer\u2019s ambitions, with UBS having estimated just a 10% probability of success.<\/p>\n

The trials, covering a combined 3,808 patients, were the first large trials for patients with early stage Alzheimer\u2019s and Rybelsus.<\/p>\n

The trials used a ratings system to assess clinical changes in areas such as memory and how patients were able to care for themselves over a two-year period. The studies aimed for a 20% slowing of cognitive decline, trial details show.<\/p>\n

Doustdar, who took over as CEO in August, is restructuring the company to compete with Eli Lilly.<\/p>\n

Wall Street analysts viewed the trials as high-risk, high-reward, and had said the data would determine if Novo\u2019s Alzheimer\u2019s program could become a future growth driver.<\/p>\n

Treatments launched in the past several years by companies including Eli Lilly and an Eisai-Biogen partnership are the first drugs ever shown to slow cognitive decline in people with Alzheimer\u2019s after years of failed trials, but they require infusions or injections and can cause significant side effects.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Novo Nordisk said on Monday an older oral version of its semaglutide drug failed to meet its main goal in late-stage trials testing whether the medicine can slow cognitive decline in Alzheimer\u2019s patients, sending its share price down 10%. The setback is a blow to hopes that Alzheimer\u2019s could open a major new market for <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":4482,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[23],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-4481","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-business"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/marketsfortress.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4481","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/marketsfortress.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/marketsfortress.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/marketsfortress.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4481"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/marketsfortress.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4481\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/marketsfortress.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/4482"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/marketsfortress.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4481"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/marketsfortress.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4481"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/marketsfortress.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4481"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}