Novo Nordisk (NVO) stock tumbled Friday — pulling Corbus Pharmaceuticals (CRBP) into a steep dive — after its new approach to weight loss caused neuropsychiatric side effects.
The Denmark-based drugmaker tested a new pill it acquired with Inversago Pharmaceuticals last year in patients with obesity and metabolic syndrome. The pill works differently from Novo's other weight-loss drug, semaglutide, which mimics the GLP-1 hormone. This drug, dubbed monlunabant, blocks a cannabinoid receptor. This receptor helps regulate weight and energy balance.
At the lowest dose, patients lost 7.1 kilograms (or roughly 16 pounds) over 16 weeks, compared with a 0.7-kilogram (or 1.5-pound) loss for the placebo group. Patients started with a baseline weight of 110.1 kilograms (242 pounds). Higher doses didn't lead to greater weight loss, Novo Nordisk said in a news release.
But the same gastrointestinal side effects that plague the GLP-1 drug class also showed up in patients who received the cannabinoid receptor-targeting drug. Further, monlunabant recipients experienced mild to moderate neuropsychiatric side effects, including anxiety, irritability and sleep disturbances.
Martin Holst Lange, Novo Nordisk's head of development, said the company still needs to "determine the optimal dosing to balance safety and (effectiveness)." Novo Nordisk is now planning to run a second midstage study in 2025.
No comments:
Post a Comment
Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.