Shares of the pharmaceutical companies Novo Nordisk and Eli Lilly slid down Wednesday (July 17) after Roche announced results from its promising early-stage trial for its proposed obesity drug. 

It is understood that the drugmaker recently acquired Carmot Therapeutics and that its drug candidate garnered positive results, which would escalate the competition in the weight loss and diabetes drug sectors with current candidates Ozempic (Novo), Wegovy (Novo), and Zepbound (Lilly).

CNBC reported that Roche shares jumped 5.87% in early market trading, while Novo and Lilly fell 3.77% and  2.7%, respectively.

Danish biotech firm Zealand Pharma, who is also developing its own obesity drug, also had its shares fall 5.6%.

Meanwhile, Reuters reported that Pfizer laid out its trial plans for its own weight loss pill last week, while Viking Therapeutics reported in March that a placebo-adjusted weight loss of 3.3% in four weeks was recorded. 

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Roche's Early Trial Wins

According to Roche, its experimental once-a-day pill CT-996 resulted in a placebo-adjusted average weight loss of 6.1% within four weeks in obese patients without Type 2 diabetes in a phase 1 trial. 

Roche chief medical officer Levi Garraway said in a statement Wednesday that CT-996 could eventually help patients address both chronic weight management and blood sugar levels. 

The pharmaceutical company entered the weight loss drug competition after purchasing Carmot in January while the latter was developing CT-388. 

However, Roche CEO Teresa Graham said in December that it might take several years before oral obesity treatments would become available to the public. 

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