A new treatment being studied may have double the effectiveness against obesity compared to its two successful treatments, “Ozambik” and “Wegovi,” according to preliminary laboratory results that caused rapid relief in the financial markets.
With “amycretin”, weight loss reached 13% within three months, according to the results of the first phase of a clinical trial conducted on 16 people and announced by the Danish pharmaceutical company “Novo Nordisk”.
Previous experiments showed a weight loss of approximately 6% during a similar period with the treatments “Ozambik” and “Wegovi”, which are also produced by the “Novo Nordisk” group.
However, experts stressed that more research is needed to evaluate the effectiveness and safety of americtin in the long term.
However, the announcement sparked appetite in the stock market, as the price of Novo Nordisk shares, listed on the Copenhagen Stock Exchange, rose by more than 8% yesterday, Thursday.
The popularity of the new generation of diabetes treatments, also used to combat obesity, has made Novo Nordisk the most capitalized company in Europe and a key driver of the Danish economy.
Unlike other drugs based on the active ingredient semaglutide, including Ozambic, Wigov or Monjaro (produced by Eli Lilly), amicretin is given in the form of tablets, and not as a weekly injection.
Like these drugs, “Amicritin” mimics the hormone secreted by the intestines (GLP-1, i.e. glucagon-like peptide 1), which stimulates insulin secretion and provides a feeling of satiety.
But it also mimics another hormone, amylin.
“This approach seems more interesting, based on the limited data we have,” Daniel Drucker, a researcher at the University of Toronto, told New Scientist.
He pointed out that more data is needed, noting that “Amicritin” has not been tested in a trial that included a direct comparison with other treatments.
Martin Holst-Lange, executive vice president of development at Novo Nordisk Group, explained to investors that Amicretin has “the potential to demonstrate the same efficacy and safety as Kagresima,” another treatment from the company that targets amylin.
Holst-Lange said that the results of a trial conducted on injections of “Amicritin” are expected to appear in 2025, adding that “Novo Nordisk” will then study “an ambitious development program.”
Obesity is a global health problem, a complex chronic disease, and a risk factor for cardiovascular disease, diabetes, some cancers, and complications.
The new generation of obesity medications reduces the risk of associated cardiovascular disease, but increases the risk of gastrointestinal effects, according to some studies.
Other research shows that a significant portion of the weight lost during treatment comes back once it is stopped.
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