A rare setback as Ozempic-maker Novo Nordisk takes a $820 million hit as its next wonder drug fails

The Danish drugmaker stopped the trial partway through, after an independent monitoring committee concluded that it hadn’t hit its main goal of changing blood pressure after 12 weeks. The study of more than 600 patients, Clarion-CKD, had looked at the compound ocedurenone in patients with uncontrolled high blood pressure and advanced chronic kidney disease. 

Novo agreed last year to pay KBP BioSciences as much as $1.3 billion for ocedurenone, part of the Ozempic maker’s effort to expand from its core diabetes treatment portfolio into other serious diseases. 

The failure is a rare setback for Novo, which is riding high on the success of its obesity drugs. 

The drugmaker had envisioned ocedurenone addressing a major need for people with both heart disease and chronic kidney disease, its executives said when the deal was announced in October. The company had planned to study the compound across different types of heart and kidney disease. Novo is now re-evaluating that plan, it said Wednesday.

The failed compound is part of a new class of pills called non-steroidal mineralocorticoid receptor antagonists, or nsMRAs, that includes Bayer AG’s predicted blockbuster Kerendia. 

Novo shares traded as much as 2.4% lower in Copenhagen. The stock has soared more than 40% this year.