The Danish drugmaker said that while its drug survodutide met its key targets in a late-stage study, 19% of patients dropped out of the study due to gastrointestinal events, compared to 2.9% on placebo.
“Safety/tolerability remains the key issue,” said Barclays analysts in a note on Monday.
The high discontinuation rate, with more than 40% of patients reporting vomiting, might limit the drug’s commercial potential as a treatment for obesity or those suffering from fatty liver disease, the analysts added.
Shares of Zealand Pharma were last seen down 24%, adding to nearly 50% drop year-to-date.
Analysts at Citi wrote in a note on Monday: “A 19% treatment discontinuation rate due to… adverse events… is not a rounding error, and nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, and constipation incidence at the levels reported here sit well above what we consider commercially viable against [rival drugs] tirzepatide and semaglutide.”
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