June 20 (Reuters) - Novo Nordisk on Friday

said full results from early-stage trials show that its

experimental drug, amycretin, helped overweight and obese adults

lose up to 24% of their weight as the Danish company readies for

late-stage studies to start next year.

The company said side effects of the drug, tested as both a

weekly injection and a daily pill, were mostly gastrointestinal

with rates similar to other recent weight loss drugs.

The full trial results were presented at the annual meeting

of the American Diabetes Association in Chicago and published in

the Lancet medical journal.

Novo's head of development Martin Holst Lange said the Phase

3 amycretin program starting in 2026 will run "for a couple of

years" after which the regulatory review process could start.

The company earlier this month said it planned to start

late-stage trials of the drug in the first quarter of 2026 after

previously announcing the early-stage trial results.

Amycretin has a dual-mode action. Like Novo's popular

weight-loss drug Wegovy, it mimics the gut hormone GLP-1, but

also targets receptors for a hunger-suppressing pancreatic

hormone called amylin.

Trial results showed that 20-milligram weekly injections of

the drug helped overweight or obese patients without diabetes

lose 22% of their weight over 36 weeks, with a 60-mg dose

resulting in 24.3% weight loss.

In the Phase 1 study of once-daily oral amycretin, patients

received increasing doses, ranging from 3 mg to a final dose of

100 mg. Patients who took 50 mg of amycretin at the end of the

12-week trial reduced body weight by 10.4% on average, while

those taking the maximum dose lost 13.1% of their weight, the

company said.

Novo said the weight loss did not plateau, suggesting that

longer treatment could lead to greater weight loss.

In a Lancet commentary, researchers not involved in the

amycretin studies said that "while additional weight loss is

welcome and helpful, our evolving concept of obesity management

has now shifted towards an emphasis on the reduction of the

risks and burdens of cardiovascular disease and other

comorbidities."

Commentators Tricia Tan, professor of metabolic medicine and

endocrinology at Imperial College London, and endocrinologist

Dr. Bernard Khoo, said studies directly comparing GLP-1 drugs

like Novo's Ozempic to drugs like amycretin will be needed to

definitively establish their added value and place in obesity

management.