▲ReadoutDenmark24 Jan 20251 min read
Amycretin posts 22 percent weight loss in an early injection trial
Novo’s GLP-1 and amylin molecule shows a steep, unplateaued weight curve in a small early study, and moves into larger trials.
Phase 1 → Phase 2 The molecule is closer to patients than before.
The readBig number, small trial. Early obesity studies often look better than phase 3 because they are short and tightly run. Still, a curve that has not flattened at 36 weeks is what investors wanted from Novo after CagriSema.
The data
In a phase 1b/2a trial of weekly amycretin injections, people on the highest dose lost about 22 percent of body weight on average after 36 weeks, against a small gain on placebo. The weight curve had not levelled off by the end of the trial. Side effects were mainly gastrointestinal and similar to other incretin drugs, according to Novo.
What amycretin is
Amycretin is a single peptide that activates two receptors: GLP-1 and amylin. Novo’s CagriSema reaches the same two targets with two molecules in one injection. Making one molecule do both is simpler to manufacture and dose, and it opened the door to an oral tablet version, which Novo is testing in parallel.
Board note
We move amycretin from phase 1 to phase 2, since the programme entered larger dose-finding studies after this readout. Novo has said a phase 3 programme will follow.
- Trial size was small and treatment lasted 36 weeks, not the 68 to 72 weeks typical of phase 3.
- The figure is from a company announcement; check the full publication when available.
Phase 3 start for the injection, and data from the oral amycretin tablet.
Primary sourceNovo Nordisk company announcement, phase 1b/2a, January 2025
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