:max_bytes(150000):strip_icc()/GettyImages-2221165460-84d45775aca84a43853c902b636d78e7.jpg "Novo Nordisk’s Weight-Loss Drug Wegovy Approved to Treat Liver Disease")
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Key Takeaways
- Novo Nordisk’s blockbuster weight-loss drug, Wegovy, received Food and Drug Administration approval to treat a serious disease of the liver.
- Wegovy can be used for patients suffering from noncirrhotic metabolic dysfunction-associated steatohepatitis, or MASH.
- The company said MASH affects one in three overweight or obese people, including 22 million in the U.S.
U.S.-listed shares of Novo Nordisk (NVO) gained 4% in premarket trading after the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved the pharmaceutical firm’s popular weight-loss drug, Wegovy, to treat a serious liver disease.
The Denmark-based firm reported the FDA said Wegovy could be used for adults suffering from noncirrhotic metabolic dysfunction-associated steatohepatitis, or MASH, who have moderate to advanced liver fibrosis, along with eating less and exercising more.
Novo Nordisk Chief Scientific Officer Martin Holst Lange noted that the decision means Wegovy is the only GLP-1 obesity medicine that has received regulatory approval to treat MASH. He explained that one in three overweight or obese people suffer from it, with some 22 million Americans among them. He added that Wegovy not only stopped the disease activity, it also reversed liver damage.
The company announced that Wegovy would be available immediately in the U.S. for the treatment of MASH.
The approval is welcome news to Novo Nordisk investors, who have seen the U.S.-listed shares slump as competition from others in the weight-loss category has siphoned away sales of Wegovy. At the close of trading Friday, the shares were down nearly 40% year-to-date.
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