Novo Nordisk’s Combination Strategy Takes Center Stage as Pipeline Advances, Shares Stay Muted

Novo Nordisk shares drop 4.57%, 47% off high, yet pipeline progress includes Veru collaboration on Wegovy combo, ADA data, and advancing CagriSema and Zenagamtid.

The Danish pharma giant’s decision to supply Wegovy to Veru for a Phase 2b combination study signals a deepening interest in expanding its GLP-1 franchise beyond stand-alone use — yet the stock remains under heavy pressure. Novo Nordisk’s shares closed the week at €37.35, down 4.57%, and now sit 47% below the 52-week high of €70.13 hit in June 2025. The clinical engine, meanwhile, is running at full throttle.

Under the SEC-filed agreement, Veru is testing its oral selective androgen receptor modulator Enobosarm in combination with Wegovy (semaglutide) in older obese patients enrolled in the PLATEAU trial. Novo Nordisk provides the drug at no cost and in return secures first negotiation rights for any potential commercial combination products involving GLP-1 agonists. The news sent Veru’s stock surging more than 167%, while Novo Nordisk gained about 4% on Thursday — not enough to reverse the week’s slide.

The collaboration comes as Novo Nordisk showcases an unusually broad data set at the American Diabetes Association annual meeting in New Orleans, where 40 abstracts are being presented. Post-hoc analyses from the SELECT, STEP, ESSENCE and OASIS trials demonstrate semaglutide’s effects on obstructive sleep apnea, asthma complications, liver health and hypertension. Two analyses specifically showed that semaglutide cut asthma complications and improved systolic blood pressure in overweight patients with uncontrolled hypertension.

Phase 3 data for CagriSema — a fixed combination of semaglutide and the amylin analogue Cagrilintide — from the REIMAGINE 1–3 studies were also presented, covering blood sugar control and weight reduction in type 2 diabetes across different background therapies. CagriSema was submitted to U.S. regulators in December 2025, with a decision expected in the fourth quarter of 2026. The company will host a dedicated R&D investor event on June 7 to dive deeper into these results.

The week’s standout pipeline news was the Phase 2 data for Zenagamtid (also known as Amycretin), a unimolecular peptide agonist of both GLP-1 and amylin receptors. In a dose-finding study of 262 adults with type 2 diabetes inadequately controlled on metformin, the drug met its primary endpoint — HbA1c reduction — across all six dose levels tested. At doses of 1.5 mg and above, statistically significant weight loss was seen after 36 weeks. Based on these results, Novo Nordisk plans to launch a Phase 3 programme for type 2 diabetes in the second half of 2026.

Two early-stage programmes have also kicked off. NNC0497-0040 is a randomized, quadruple-blind Phase 1 study for obesity and diabetes that began recruiting in May. A second Phase 1 candidate, NNC0113-5840, an injectable obesity treatment, was submitted in April and is also recruiting. Both are in the safety-testing phase; clinically meaningful readouts are still far off.

Behind the scenes, the share buyback is steadily ticking over. By the end of May, Novo Nordisk had repurchased roughly 17.9 million B-shares for a total of about 4.71 billion Danish kroner, at an average price of 263 kroner. The overall programme, launched in February, allows for up to 15 billion kroner in repurchases over 12 months.

Analyst sentiment remains cautious. Of 23 brokers covering the stock, 18 rate it a “hold”, four a “buy” and one a “sell”, with a median price target of $65.56. Goldman Sachs reiterated its hold rating on June 3. The stock is trading about 10% below its 200-day moving average of €41.67, reflecting persistent concerns over U.S. pricing pressure on Wegovy, competition from Eli Lilly’s oral obesity drug Foundayo and successive profit warnings. Novo Nordisk’s 2026 guidance calls for a revenue and operating profit decline of 4% to 12% at constant exchange rates — an improvement from the earlier 5% to 13% — but questions about the durability of its GLP-1 dominance are likely to hang over the stock until at least the next quarterly results on August 5.