11:16 AM EST, 01/24/2025 (MT Newswires) -- Novo Nordisk's ( NVO ) said Friday that its investigative weight loss drug, amycretin, led to a body weight reduction of up to 22% in an early-stage trial.

The maker of obesity drug Wegovy and diabetes treatment Ozempic said its phase 1b/2a trial covered 125 overweight people. The trial involved three different once-weekly injection doses, with a total treatment duration of up to 36 weeks.

People treated with 1.25 milligrams of amycretin over 20 weeks saw a 9.7% body weight reduction. A 5-mg dose over 28 weeks resulted in a 16.2% weight loss, while a 20-mg dose over 36 weeks led to a 22% reduction. People given a placebo saw body weight gains of 1.9%, 2.3% and 2%, respectively.

Danish pharmaceutical giant Novo Nordisk's ( NVO ) shares rose 8% in Friday trading.

The most common side effects of the treatment were gastrointestinal, with the "vast majority" being mild to moderate in severity, Novo Nordisk ( NVO ) said.

"We are very encouraged by the subcutaneous phase 1b/2a results for amycretin in people living with overweight or obesity," Martin Lange, Novo Nordisk's ( NVO ) executive vice president for development, said in a statement. "The results seen in the trial support the weight lowering potential of this novel unimolecular GLP-1 and amylin receptor agonist, amycretin, that we have previously seen with the oral formulation."

The company plans additional clinical development of the drug in overweight and obese adults. In September, Novo Nordisk ( NVO ) said the pill version of amycretin showed weight loss of up to 13.1% after 12 weeks, according to Reuters.

Last month, clinical trial results for Novo Nordisk's ( NVO ) investigative weight loss drug CagriSema fell short of its own expectations.

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