Wegovy Fever Continues to Rise as Novo Nordisk Buys Another Obesity Drugmaker

Novo Nordisk has acquired Embark Biotech, as the larger Danish drugmaker looks to expand its blockbuster obesity drug portfolio in the wake of surging economic demand and rising market shortages of both metabolic and diabetes therapies.

The purchase marks Novo Nordisk’s second obesity-related acquisition this month. The company previously announced it would acquire Inversago Pharma, granting Novo Nordisk access to the latter’s lead development asset, an oral therapy that demonstrated weight loss in a phase 1b trial and has begun a phase 2 trial for diabetic kidney disease.

Novo Nordisk doesn’t appear to be slowing down its obesity focus anytime soon given its blockbuster semaglutide, a glucagon-like peptide-1 receptor agonist, has become a major money-maker. The drug is branded as Wegovy for weight loss and as Ozempic and Rybelsus for type 2 diabetes.

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