Novo Nordisk (NVO) on Wednesday defended its experimental obesity therapy, CagriSema, following phase 3 trial data published in December that disappointed investors.

The data showed at the time that CagriSema met the trial's primary endpoint, demonstrating superior weight loss compared with a placebo, but the results fell short of expectations.

The company remains confident in CagriSema's "potent biology" and looks forward to further exploring its potential, Chief Executive Lars Fruergaard Jorgensen said on an earnings conference call Wednesday, according to a FactSet transcript.

"Previous trials and our modeling indicated that CagriSema could provide a potential weight loss of approximately 25%," Martin Holst Lange, executive vice president and head of development, said on the call. "While the 25% weight loss was not observed in REDEFINE 1, we are encouraged by the weight loss profile of CagriSema, which stands out as one of the most substantial weight reductions observed in a clinical phase 3a trial," he said.

Novo Nordisk expects results of a REDEFINE 2 trial in Q1, Lange said. The company will begin the REDEFINE 11 trial in H1 and now expects to submit CagriSema for regulatory approval in Q1 2026.

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