Novo Nordisk Touts Liver-Fat and Cardiovascular Data as It Battles a 24% Slide
Published on 10/01/2026 at 15:11 | Editorial boerse-global.de
Novo Nordisk used the annual meeting of the European Association for the Study of Diabetes (EASD) in Milan to roll out two separate datasets aimed at broadening the clinical case for its GLP-1 franchise, even as its share price continues to languish. The stock traded at EUR 33.45 on the day of the liver-fat presentation and closed at EUR 33.52 in the prior session, leaving it down 24% since the start of the year.
Liver Fat Falls Sharply in Pooled Analysis
A post-hoc review of pooled data from the STEP UP and STEP UP T2D programs examined adults with obesity but without diabetes who also had elevated liver fat. Among participants taking injectable semaglutide at doses of 2.4 mg and 7.2 mg, average liver fat content dropped from 8.8% to 3.1% over 72 weeks. Of the 26 participants who began with liver fat above 5%, 23 — or 88.5% — had normalized below that threshold by the end of treatment.
The company is leaning on these findings to argue that its obesity drug Wegovy does more than strip away pounds. Chief executive Mike Doustdar pushed back at the EASD gathering against framing the debate around weight alone, stressing that organ-specific data and secondary effects are what matter most to prescribing physicians as competition with rivals such as Eli Lilly intensifies. The liver-fat parameter was not among the trial's pre-specified primary or secondary endpoints, however.
Ozempic Edges Mounjaro on Cardiovascular Events
A second study, COMPETE SWITCH CV, presented a day earlier at the same congress, offers Novo Nordisk a fresh talking point in its head-to-head battle with Eli Lilly. Drawing on US billing records for 636,525 patients with type 2 diabetes, the retrospective observational analysis found that those who increased their dose of the Danish company's Ozempic suffered serious cardiovascular events less often than patients who switched to Lilly's Mounjaro. When the semaglutide dose was raised to 2 mg, the risk of events such as heart attacks and strokes came in 6% lower than with a switch to tirzepatide.
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Because the work relies on real-world claims data rather than a controlled trial, it does not establish causation, and safety outcomes were not part of the analysis. Even so, the result hands Novo Nordisk a valuable argument as Eli Lilly presses forward with its own molecules and fresh trial data.
Pills Take Center Stage
Beyond the injection-versus-injection contest, Novo Nordisk is betting heavily on oral formats. Doustdar said weight-loss pills could eventually account for as much as half of the global obesity-drug market, which analysts value at no less than USD 100 billion annually by the end of the decade. In the United States, tablets already represent a third of all prescriptions in the category, and Novo Nordisk claims more than 80% of those new oral scripts.
The company is also moving to widen access to its existing therapies. At the Milan congress, executive Larsen outlined plans to launch an oral semaglutide formulation in Italy, a format intended to reach patients who are reluctant to give themselves regular injections. Management has its eye on markets beyond Europe's core as well, preparing steps to introduce oral treatments in regions such as India, where medical need remains enormous.
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Rebuilding Investor Confidence
Sentiment on the equity has been bruised by fierce competition and price cuts in individual markets. Novo Nordisk has acknowledged that a portion of its shareholder base has lost faith and that the company must now win it back. Whether the latest comparative data can restore support will depend largely on how successfully the group defends its market share against a strengthening field of rivals.
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