Novo Nordisk's $475-billion rise and fall as Wegovy-era gains wiped out

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Feb 23 (Reuters) - Novo Nordisk shares slumped by more than 16% on Monday, wiping away the remaining ‌gains brought by its blockbuster weight-loss drug Wegovy, ‌after the drugmaker said its next-generation obesity drug CagriSema underperformed Eli Lilly's ​rival.

Novo, which in 2024 was worth more than $650 billion, has since shed around $475 billion, with the shares back at levels last seen before Wegovy transformed it into Europe's most ‌valuable drugmaker.

Novo's shares ⁠fell to their lowest level since June 2021, when Wegovy was first launched, driving a ⁠long sales and share price boom that even helped propel Denmark's wider economy.

Novo shares were among the biggest decliners in ​Europe's benchmark ​STOXX 600 index. Meanwhile, ​shares of Eli Lilly rose ‌about 4% in U.S. morning trade.

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J.P. Morgan analysts said the trial miss was a significant setback that could curb demand for CagriSema, temper long-term sales hopes and leave Novo struggling to ‌win back share in the fast-growing ​obesity treatment market.

The setback adds to ​investor worries about ​intensifying competition in obesity treatments, where demand is ‌increasingly driven by drugs offering ​the greatest ​weight-loss results.

Shares of Novo's Danish peer Zealand declined 7%, but analysts brushed off broader concerns about its own ​weight-loss drug, similarly ‌targeting the amylin hormone.

(Reporting by Jesus Calero in ​Gdansk and Bhanvi Satija in London, editing by ​Milla Nissi-Prussak and Andrei Khalip)