COPENHAGEN (Reuters) -Novo Nordisk said on Monday an older oral version of its semaglutide drug failed to meet its main goal in late-stage trials testing whether the medicine can slow cognitive decline in Alzheimer's patients.
The data is key for Novo because Alzheimer's disease would be a large new market for GLP-1 medicines like semaglutide after blockbuster success in the treatment of obesity and diabetes. Alzheimer's patients currently have limited treatment options.
The drug being tested is Novo's Rybelsus, a pill currently approved only for treatment of type 2 diabetes. Both Rybelsus and Novo's blockbuster drugs Ozempic and Wegovy are based on the same active ingredient, semaglutide, a GLP-1 medicine.
(Writing by Stine Jacobsen and Maggie Fick; Editing by Jan Harvey, Terje Solsvik and Anna Ringstrom)
