Drugmaker Novo Nordisk announced on Monday, September 21, 2026, that its experimental obesity treatment, CagriSema, demonstrated greater weight loss in patients with Type 2 diabetes than a rival medication from Eli Lilly. In a late-stage clinical trial, patients taking a 1 mg dose of CagriSema lost an estimated average of 12.4% of their body weight over 60 weeks, compared to a 9.1% loss for those receiving a 5 mg dose of Eli Lilly’s tirzepatide.
The announcement follows mixed results for the experimental drug, which Novo Nordisk views as a successor to its weight-loss medication Wegovy. While the 12.4% weight loss in diabetes patients outperformed the 5 mg dose of tirzepatide, a separate head-to-head trial reported in February 2026, the REDEFINE 4 study, found that CagriSema did not achieve non-inferiority against tirzepatide over 84 weeks in a general obesity study. In that earlier trial, CagriSema patients lost 20.2% of their weight compared to 23.6% for those on tirzepatide.
CagriSema is a weekly injectable that combines two active components: semaglutide, which is the active ingredient in Wegovy, and cagrilintide, a long-acting amylin analog that targets brain regions involved in hunger regulation. BMO analyst Evan Seigerman noted that while the low-dose data reported Monday was encouraging, it was less impactful because tirzepatide has already shown superior results against higher doses of CagriSema in general obesity studies.
For patients, the development of CagriSema represents a potential new weekly injection option that functions differently than existing GLP-1 medications by mimicking two different hormones instead of one. In separate trials, adults without diabetes who were overweight or obese saw a weight reduction of 21% over 68 weeks when using a 1.0 mg dose of CagriSema compared to a placebo.
Novo Nordisk is positioning CagriSema to protect its market share as the patent for its current drug, Wegovy, is set to expire after 2030. Analysts at BMO have raised questions regarding the future pricing power and dealmaking strategies of these drugmakers as they navigate patent cliffs and new clinical data. Investors reacted to the mixed data landscape by selling Novo Nordisk shares; U.S.-listed shares fell more than 4% before the bell on Monday, while shares in Copenhagen fell more than 12% following the February report.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is expected to issue a decision on Novo Nordisk's application for CagriSema for weight management in the fourth quarter of 2026. If authorized, Novo Nordisk plans to begin a multi-year rollout for the injectable combination starting early next year. As of September 2026, the drug has not yet received approval for use in either the United States or Europe.