LONDON/COPENHAGEN, Feb 5 (Reuters) - Novo Nordisk's CEO

said on Wednesday side-effects were not a problem in the trial

of its next-generation obesity drug candidate CagriSema as the

company considers dosage escalation and trial length for a new

study.

The company on Dec. 20 revealed results in its

late-stage study which were weaker than expected, wiping about

$125 billion from its market value.

Novo said at the time it would start a new trial in the

first half of the year.

The drug is crucial to Novo's search for a successor to its

blockbuster weight-loss drug Wegovy that is more powerful than

Eli Lilly's ( LLY ) rival Zepbound, also known as Mounjaro.

CEO Lars Fruergaard Jorgensen told journalists on a media

call after the company released quarterly results on Wednesday

that the company was confident in CagriSema's biology and

encouraged by the data.

He declined though to answer directly why only 57.3% of

trial participants reached the highest dose of the medicine, a

question which has puzzled the market since the December data.

Investors and analysts have speculated it could be because

participants suffered harsh side-effects or they achieved good

weight loss on lower doses. The company said at the time

side-effects were inline with other weight-loss drugs like

Wegovy.

"It's clear when you work with a potent biology like

CagriSema, you see people losing weight significantly, and some

of those will hit the weight they attempted to reach and the BMI

they are targeting," Jorgensen said.

Investors and analysts were also surprised to learn in

December that the trial used a "flexible" protocol, permitting

patients to change their dose rather than follow a schedule.

Asked on the call whether Novo made a mistake with that

protocol, Jorgensen said: "No".

Flexibility was needed to address the risk that participants

who lost significant weight over a short period would drop out

of the trial because they felt they had lost enough weight, he

said.

The company said on Wednesday it plans to submit CagriSema

for regulatory approval during the first quarter of 2026,

slightly later than its previous expectation of end-2025.