礼来公司凭借其流行的肥胖症疗法替西帕肽(tirzepatide，品牌名为治疗糖尿病的Mounjaro及治疗减肥症的Zepbound)，在肥胖治疗领域迅速崛起，而与此同时，诺和诺德的下一代肥胖候选药物CagriSema的年终试验结果则导致了其股价下滑。As the year comes to a close, Wall Street has listed Eli Lilly and Co (LLY.US) as one of the best-performing companies among large pharmaceutical firms, while Novo-Nordisk A/S (NVO.US) has lagged due to a bleak outlook.
According to Zhito Finance APP, as the year approaches its end, Wall Street has listed Eli Lilly and Co (LLY.US) as one of the top-performing companies among large pharmaceutical firms, while its closest competitor in the lucrative weight loss drug market, Novo-Nordisk A/S (NVO.US), has lagged behind due to bleak prospects.
The stock price of Eli Lilly and Co has continued to skyrocket this year, rising about 34% year-to-date, compared to about 25% for the S&P 500 Index, while Novo-Nordisk has fallen about 16%. In fact, this Indiana-based pharmaceutical company is one of the few large pharmaceutical firms to achieve record growth this year.
Eli Lilly and Co has rapidly risen in the obesity treatment field with its popular obesity therapy tirzepatide (branded as Mounjaro for diabetes treatment and Zepbound for weight loss), while at the same time, the year-end trial results of Novo-Nordisk's next-generation obesity candidate CagriSema have led to a decline in its stock price.
The FDA in the USA approved tirzepatide for weight loss at the end of last year, with net sales for the first nine months of 2024 reaching $11 billion, a significant improvement compared to $3 billion in net sales for 2023.
Novo-Nordisk's competing product semaglutide is sold under the branding of Ozempic for diabetes treatment and Wegovy for weight loss, while during the same period, this product's sales increased by 124.8 billion Danish krone ($17.4 billion), representing a year-on-year growth of 43%.
Despite the disappointing third quarter Earnings Reports released by Eli Lilly in October, its stock has risen about 32% from last month's low. The week before, Novo-Nordisk announced the phase three data for CagriSema, raising doubts on Wall Street about its prospects in the weight loss drug market.
Novo-Nordisk A/S's data did not meet Wall Street's expectations, while Eli Lilly and Co's new generation weight loss therapy, retatrutide, stole the spotlight. Retatrutide is designed to target GLP/GIP and glucagon receptors, providing more effective weight loss results.
Seeking Alpha contributor JR Research commented: "The study of CagriSema has brought another untimely setback to Novo-Nordisk A/S, and investors are assigning higher credibility to Eli Lilly and Co's new generation product retatrutide, which has achieved high-performance standards."
Analysts pointed out that CagriSema loses about 23% of body weight in 68 weeks, while retatrutide can enable patients to lose about 24% of body weight in mid-term trials over 48 weeks.
Despite the recent setbacks faced by Novo-Nordisk A/S, JR Research reiterated the "Buy" rating for the company, believing that its market leadership position will not be challenged in the short term. The analyst added: "Novo-Nordisk A/S has several opportunities to expand its weight loss drug indications, and there is potential to further increase its Total Addressable Market (TAM)."
