After Roche (RHHBY.US) announced positive results from its clinical trial of oral weight loss drugs, shares of Eli Lilly and Co. (LLY.US) and Novo-Nordisk (NVO.US) fell on Wednesday.
According to the Futu News app, after Swiss pharmaceutical giant Roche (RHHBY.US) announced positive results from its clinical trial of oral weight loss drugs, shares of Eli Lilly and Co. (LLY.US) and Novo-Nordisk (NVO.US) fell on Wednesday.
Roche announced on Wednesday that the second candidate drug acquired from Carmot Therapeutics has shown positive results, further intensifying competition in the weight loss drug market.
As of the close of Wednesday's U.S. stock market, Roche rose 7.53%, Wegovy manufacturer Novo-Nordisk fell 3.87%, Zepbound manufacturer Eli Lilly fell 3.82%, and new weight loss drug Viking Therapeutics (VKTX.US) fell 12.56%.
Shares of Denmark's biotechnology company Zealand Pharma fell 8.4%, as the company is also developing its own obesity treatment method.
Roche stated that in a Phase 1 trial, the experimental tablet CT-996 taken once daily reduced the average weight of obese patients without type 2 diabetes by 6.1% in four weeks.
Roche's chief medical officer, Levi Garraway, said, "We are pleased to see clinically meaningful weight loss in patients receiving CT-996 therapy and hope it may ultimately help patients manage long-term weight and glucose control".
At a time when competition in the rapidly growing weight loss drug industry is intensifying, Roche's oral weight loss drug may provide another attractive option for patients who do not like injections.
In January of this year, Roche completed its acquisition of weight loss drug developer Carmot Therapeutics. In May, the company announced early research data on another weight loss drug, CT-388.
However, Roche CEO Teresa Graham said in December last year that it could take several years for oral weight loss drugs to become widely used.