Shares of Novo Nordisk (NYSE:NVO) fell sharply on Monday after the Danish pharmaceutical giant said a late-stage trial testing its diabetes and weight-loss drug semaglutide in Alzheimer’s disease did not meet its main objective.
The Phase III Evoke and Evoke+ trials, which enrolled nearly 3,800 patients with early signs of cognitive decline, showed no meaningful impact on disease progression, Novo Nordisk said.
Patients in the studies were allowed to continue standard Alzheimer’s therapies, including acetylcholinesterase inhibitors, memantine, and amyloid-beta treatments.
Despite some improvements in Alzheimer’s-related biomarkers, these did not translate into slower cognitive decline, prompting the company to discontinue the one-year extension phase of the trials. Full trial results are expected at the CTAD conference in December, with a more detailed presentation at the 2026 AD/PD conference in March.
Shares of Novo Nordisk were down 6.7% on Monday morning.
Novo Nordisk’s setback comes amid heightened expectations for semaglutide’s use beyond metabolic disorders, as drugmakers explore whether GLP-1 therapies could address other chronic conditions. Investors had viewed the Alzheimer’s study as a key effort to diversify the company’s pipeline and reduce reliance on its flagship diabetes and weight-loss treatments.
The outcome could indirectly benefit competitors in the Alzheimer’s space. Analysts at Jefferies said the trial failure removes an overhang for Biogen Inc (NASDAQ:BIIB, XETRA:IDP), potentially allowing its amyloid-beta drug Leqembi to gain market traction in early Alzheimer’s disease.
“Based on the actual negative outcome, we could argue that the competitive landscape could soften in early Alzheimer's disease,” Jefferies wrote.
Jefferies noted that Biogen could see modest stock gains as a result, while investor focus turns to upcoming data for Eli Lilly’s Kisunla, another amyloid-beta therapy, expected in late 2025 to early 2026.