Semaglutide, the "best miracle drug", has become the highest listed company in Europe by market capitalization, and now Novo Nordisk hopes to go further and make efforts to develop "obesity prevention" drugs.
Novo Nordisk CEO Lars Fruergaard Jorgensen said in an interview that the company has set its sights on another "gold mine," as reported on TuesdayNovo Nordisk recently set up a division focused on "transformational prevention", using artificial intelligence and advanced analytics to gain insight into the disease of obesity.
Novo Nordisk's largest experimental project is the "SELECT" trial, a large-scale study of more than 17,000 people to observe the reaction to taking its ** drug, Wegovy, while collecting samples such as DNA and blood over a long period of time, and will combine these samples with large public resources such as the UK Biobank.
The trial data could provide clues as to why some people are more likely to gain weight, and it is even possible to develop the first drugs to prevent obesity. Zhou Fude said:
We will look at this data to understand who will develop obesity?What are the characteristics of these patients?In addition to researching potential preventive drugs, Novo Nordisk is also interested in identifying which people are at risk of obesity in the next two to five years and finding ways to communicate this risk using digital solutions so they can change their behaviour.
Nadeem Sarwar, head of the Transformational Prevention Division, said obesity is a "particularly complex** area", with biological risk intertwined with social, cultural and behavioural factors.
Lydia Alexander, President-Elect of the American Medical Association for Obesity, noted:
Some clinicians have begun to consider "pre-obesity", like the term "pre-glucose" to prevent diabetes. Like other medical conditions, people should be asked about a family history of obesity when they see a doctor.However, there are currently few preventive medicines for obesity, and many people don't even consider obesity a disease, let alone spend money on prevention. People may object to this practice and ask "why give them ** to prevent diseases they don't have?".”
But Sarwar rejects this view, pointing out that the cost savings of preventing disease could be enormous. The company is also collecting data in hopes of measuring the impact of obesity-free life on the healthcare system. Emily Field, an analyst at Clay Bank, also believes that if Novo Nordisk can develop such a method, the prospects will be very impressive.
The SELECT" trial has shown that wegovy—can reduce the risk of type 2 diabetes, serious cardiac events, and death." Since the release of preliminary figures in August, Novo Nordisk's share price has soared 25%, overtaking luxury giant LVMH to become Europe's largest company by market capitalization.
Chow said the focus on prevention would take them "one step further" while also giving them a new edge in an increasingly competitive market. A prophylactic approach can address a thorny problem, including existing medications: patients gain weight once they stop taking them. Researchers believe that the body pushes people to eat more food in order to get back to a "set point" of weight, so things are much easier if people prevent obesity in the first place.
If Novo Nordisk succeeds in developing a drug to prevent obesity, it will face major questions about who wants to take the drug and who is willing to pay for it.
Alexander thinks:
If Novo Nordisk wants people with a healthy body mass index, it needs to find a genetic test to alert those at higher risk of obesity and related diseases.Recently, the market has focused on Novo Nordisk's expansion of Wegovy's volume to meet expanding demand. Field expects Wegovy's sales to reach $4.2 billion this year and $7.3 billion next year. Her Ozempic sales will reach $13.3 billion in 2023 and $16.5 billion in 2024. Shareholders are also excited about Novo Nordisk's late-stage product line, which includes Wegovy's pill version and Cagrisema, which trial data shows is more effective.Without such genetic testing, the company risks targeting people with BMIs of 25 to 27, which would still add "millions" of potential patients to the market.
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