Zealand's stock falls 35% after disappointing drug result. Its CEO tells CNBC people need to focus less on the 'weight loss Olympics'

In this article

The chief executive of drugmaker Zealand Pharma sought to calm investors about the latest trial results, which showed patients lost less weight than expected and prompted the stock to fall more than 35%.

Speaking to CNBC, CEO Adam Steensberg criticized what he called the “weight loss Olympics,” where markets and companies focus too heavily on the amount of weight lost, rather than on factors such as staying on the medicine long-term and dealing with side effects.

The world doesn’t need these products that amount to very high rates of weight loss, he said, referring to medicines developed by Novo Nordisk

and Eli Lilly