A new treatment being studied by the Danish pharmaceutical group Novo Nordisk may have double the effectiveness against obesity, compared to its successful treatments “Ozambik” and “Wegovi,” according to preliminary laboratory results that raised rapid relief in the financial markets.
With “Amicritin,” weight loss reached 13 percent within three months, according to the results of the first phase of a clinical trial conducted on 16 people and announced by the company.
Previous experiments had shown a weight loss of approximately 6 percent, during a similar period with the “Ozambik” and “Wegovi” treatments produced by Novo Nordisk.
An injection of the drug “Wegov” (Reuters)
However, experts stressed that there is a need for more research to evaluate the effectiveness and safety of “Amicritin” in the long term.
However, the announcement sparked appetite in the stock market, and the price of Novo Nordisk shares, listed on the Copenhagen Stock Exchange, rose by more than 8 percent on Thursday, according to what Agence France-Presse reported.
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 major driving force for the Danish economy, which has also caused a shortage of stocks.
A more interesting approach
Unlike other medications based on the active ingredient semaglutide, including Ozambic, Wigov, or Monjaro (produced by Eli Lilly), amicretin is given in the form of tablets, not a weekly injection.
Like these drugs, amicretin mimics the hormone secreted by the intestines (GLP-1, i.e. glucagon-like peptide 1), which stimulates insulin secretion and provides a feeling of fullness, 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 in Canada, told New Scientist magazine.
He pointed out that more data is needed, noting that amicretin has not been tested in a trial that included a direct comparison with other treatments.
Novo Nordisk’s executive vice president of development, Martin Holst Lange, explained to investors that amicretin has “the potential to demonstrate the same efficacy and safety as Cagresima.” It is another treatment from the company that targets amylin.
He said that the results of a trial conducted on injections of amicretin are expected to appear in 2025, adding that Novo Nordisk will then study “an ambitious development program.”
A global health problem
Obesity represents a global health problem, a complex chronic disease, and a risk factor for cardiovascular disease, diabetes, some types of cancer, and complications, as is the case with “Covid-19.”
The new generation of obesity medications reduces the risk of associated cardiovascular diseases, 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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2024-03-10 10:47:40
#treatment #obesity #effective #Ozambik
