Ypsomed will make injection pens for Novo Nordisk's CagriSema, says source
Making injection pens for CagriSema is part of Ypsomed's contract with Novo - source
Contract was signed last September
CagriSema still being tested, Novo hopes it will be more powerful than Wegovy
By Maggie Fick
LONDON, Nov 22 (Reuters) -Swiss medical technology company Ypsomed's YPSN.S contract with Novo Nordisk includes the supply of injection pens for the Danish drugmaker's next-generation experimental obesity drug CagriSema, a source familiar with the matter has told Reuters.
The previously unreported detail about the company's deal signed last year offers an insight into Novo's NOVOb.CO long-term planning for commercial production for its drug candidates, which are still being tested and which it hopes will be more powerful successors to its popular Wegovy injection.
Spokespeople for Novo and Ypsomed declined to comment. The source declined to be identified because the terms of the contract are confidential.
Novo's late-stage trial testing CagriSema is the most advanced of its pipeline of potential drugs and investors say currently the most significant because Novo said it expects the weekly injection to lead to an average weight loss of 25% within a year. That's much higher than Wegovy's 15%.
Analysts say it is a must-win for Novo's obesity-tackling investment case as it faces stiff competition from rival Eli Lilly's LLY.N Mounjaro. CagriSema Phase III results are expected before the end of the year.
In a deal announced in September last year, Ypsomed said it would expand its manufacturing capacity focusing on the manufacture of autoinjectors for Novo's "second-generation GLP-1s", which are currently in clinical trials.
The GLP-1 class of drugs, to which Wegovy belongs, target a gut hormone that regulates hunger and blood glucose.
Last year, Ypsomed did not name which Novo drugs being trialed it would focus on. The new capacity was expected to be available for Novo in 2025.
Novo has invested billions of dollars to expand its manufacturing capacity for Wegovy as it tries to keep up with red-hot demand and maintain its first-mover advantage in the obesity drug race.
It has hired companies along the supply chain to make pens, fill syringes and package them. Those efforts have started to pay off after a prolonged shortage in the United States from early 2022 until late October.
Last week, Ypsomed, the world's second-largest supplier of autoinjectors by sales to the pharma industry, behind SHL Medical, said it had secured deals with 31 companies related to GLP-1 drugs.
Ypsomed's shares are up about 18% this year.
Reporting by Maggie Fick
Editing by Josephine Mason and Susan Fenton
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