Novo Nordisk disclosed that its next‑generation obesity candidate CagriSema failed to demonstrate noninferiority to Eli Lilly’s Zepbound in a head‑to‑head Phase 3 comparison. Reported weight‑loss outcomes for CagriSema trailed Lilly’s tirzepatide‑based therapy by several percentage points, prompting an immediate market reaction and a sharp drop in Novo’s share price. Novo stressed that CagriSema still produced clinically meaningful weight loss and remains on a regulatory pathway, but the result undermines the company’s effort to regain share in the intensely competitive GLP‑1/dual‑ and triple‑agonist obesity market. The trial outcome also escalates pricing and positioning pressure across major players, following recent list‑price cuts and direct‑to‑consumer pricing programs. Investors and competitors will treat the head‑to‑head result as a real‑world data point for payers and prescribers deciding among increasingly crowded obesity therapeutics.