Novo Nordisk shares rise as US panel backs obesity drug

COPENHAGEN, Sept 13 (AFP): Shares in insulin maker Novo Nordisk rose on Friday after an advisory panel to the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) backed the group's obesity drug Saxenda.
With 14-1 votes, the FDA committee concluded that the benefit-risk assessment of the drug was favourable for individuals with severe weight problems, the Danish group said.
The US regulator typically follows the advice of its panels and will make its decision on 20 October.
"We look forward to working with the FDA as they complete their review of Saxenda," Novo Nordisk chief science officer Mads Krogsgaard Thomsen said in a statement.
The decision was expected by analysts after trial data showed that 60 per cent of patients given a daily 3 milligram injection achieved five-per cent weight loss, according to an FDA report released earlier this week.
Saxenda contains the same active ingredient as diabetes treatment Victoza but in a lower dose.
The active substance, liraglutide, suppresses hunger by imitating a naturally occurring human hormone known as GLP-1, which is released from the gut in response to eating.
Novo Nordisk has been under pressure in the US market where it faces competition from generic drugs and after it lost two contracts with US health benefit manager Express Scripts.
Shares in Novo Nordisk were up by three per cent in mid-afternoon trading on the Copenhagen stock market, where the main index was 1.1 per cent higher.