Eli Lilly’s Retatrutide and Foundayo Updates Move LLY Higher as Novo Nordisk’s CagriSema Adds Mixed Readthrough

Eli Lilly and Novo Nordisk both delivered optimistic obesity-related messaging at the American Diabetes Association’s 86th Scientific Sessions in New Orleans, but their stocks did not trade in tandem. Lilly’s latest weight-loss pipeline data helped lift its shares in premarket trading, while Novo Nordisk’s update package left investors more cautious, according to market coverage of Monday’s trading action.

Lilly focused attention on retatrutide, an investigational once-weekly “triple agonist” that targets GIP, GLP-1, and glucagon receptors. In a Phase 3 obesity study (TRIUMPH-1), Lilly said retatrutide produced weight loss of up to an average of 70.3 pounds (28.3%) at 80 weeks in adults with obesity. The company also pointed to additional Phase 3 results in type 2 diabetes (TRANSCEND-T2D-1), where it said retatrutide lowered A1C by up to an average of 2.0% and reduced weight by up to an average of 36.6 pounds (16.8%) at 40 weeks.

On Monday, Lilly also staged a second ADA symposium for Foundayo (orforglipron), its oral GLP-1 medicine. Lilly described Foundayo as the only oral GLP-1 taken without food or water restrictions, and it used the meeting to highlight late-stage comparisons from its ACHIEVE program. In ACHIEVE-2, Lilly said Foundayo lowered A1C by up to 1.7% at 40 weeks versus 0.8% with dapagliflozin. In ACHIEVE-3, Lilly said Foundayo was superior to oral semaglutide, with a larger relative weight-loss effect at 52 weeks.

Novo Nordisk’s ADA communications had two thrusts: commercial momentum for its Wegovy pill and clinical readouts for its next-generation pipeline. Novo said Wegovy 25 mg tablets surpassed three million prescriptions in just over five months in the U.S., describing it as one of the strongest pharmaceutical launches by volume on record. Alongside that, Novo presented Phase 3 results for CagriSema, a once-weekly investigational therapy combining an amylin analog (cagrilintide) with a GLP-1 receptor agonist (semaglutide) in the REIMAGINE program for adults with type 2 diabetes.

In Novo’s REIMAGINE data presented for CagriSema 2.4 mg/2.4 mg, the company reported statistically significant reductions in HbA1c and bodyweight versus comparators across phase 3 trials. In one analysis shown for REIMAGINE, Novo said CagriSema achieved relative bodyweight reductions of 14.2% (week 68) compared with 10.2% for semaglutide 2.4 mg, with GI-related adverse events reported as the most common side effects. Novo also reported discontinuation due to adverse events in single-digit percentages across arms, while framing the program as demonstrating activity for both glucose control and weight outcomes.

Market reaction differed sharply from the two companies’ presentations. A Reuters report carried by StreetInsider said Eli Lilly shares jumped about 4% premarket on Monday, attributing the move to analyst expectations that retatrutide data could extend Lilly’s lead in the obesity market. By contrast, reported that Novo Nordisk shares fell about 3% on Monday following ADA conference readthrough, linking the downward move to how investors digested the overall set of trial updates and commercial indicates.

The divergence underscores how quickly the obesity drug sector can move from clinical optimism to valuation pressure, especially as drugmakers race to prove the best long-term balance of weight loss, tolerability, and convenience. While both companies presented positive information, the market is effectively sorting among multiple next-steps at once: whether a next-generation agent can outperform existing standards, how well an oral option can scale, and what investor expectations are already priced in from earlier trial headlines.

Still, Monday’s disclosures do not resolve the longer questions investors will be watching next. Trial results shown at ADA are not the same as regulator-reviewed labeling or real-world long-term adherence, and neither company, in the materials reviewed for this story, mapped a specific approval timeline for its investigational obesity pipeline. For CagriSema in particular, the REIMAGINE program data Novo highlighted are in type 2 diabetes populations, leaving open how the results will translate to pure obesity indication strategy. The immediate focus ahead of regulators will likely remain on the next phase of evidence, including confirmatory endpoints and broader safety and tolerability profiles as development continues.