Packages of prescription drugs Ozempic and Wegovy by Novo Nordisk sit on a table in Copenhagen, Denmark, 23 March 2023. (Photo: EPA-EFE/Ida Marie Odgaard DENMARK) The news hit shares of the world’s biggest kidney dialysis providers. Fresenius Medical Care AG & Co plunged as much as 24% in Frankfurt, while other kidney-related stocks including DaVita and Baxter International — which touched an eight-year low — tumbled in US trading on Wednesday. Shares of Outset Medical are trading at the lowest since the dialysis-machine manufacturer’s 2020 debut.
The trial halt was recommended by an independent data monitoring committee after an interim analysis met preset criteria for efficacy. Full results are expected in the first half of next year, the Danish drug manufacturer said.
Novo’s Ozempic and Wegovy injectable drugs, a class of medicines known as GLP-1s, have been causing ripple effects across the stock market, for the manufacturers of everything from snacks to booze. Last week, Walmart said it’s seeing an impact on demand from people taking Ozempic, Wegovy and other appetite-suppressing medications. That weighed on shares of other food and beverage companies.
Read more: Ozempic Threat Is Spurring a Slump in Snack and Beer Stocks
“The body of evidence to support GLP-1 use, over and above weight loss and blood glucose control, continues to grow,” Citigroup analyst Peter Verdult wrote in a note, referring to Novo’s study.
As investors bet that this new class of weight-loss drugs will improve the overall health of millions of Americans, US health care stocks have underperformed the S&P 500 Index this year. Medical-device manufacturers like Dexcom and Insulethave performed particularly poorly, down 30% and 54%, respectively.
But some stocks have been gaining along with Novo, which is up 45% year-to-date. Eli Lilly & Co., whose pipeline of drugs to treat obesity includes Mounjaro, is now the world’s biggest health-care company by market value. And shares in WW International — better known as Weight Watchers — have more than tripled this year. WW bought a telemedicine firm that prescribes obesity medications earlier this year.
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