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(Bloomberg) -- Novo Nordisk A/S shares plunged the most since December after another disappointment for the drugmaker’s next-generation shot CagriSema.

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The medicine helped patients with diabetes lose 15.7% of their weight over 68 weeks, compared with 3.1% with placebo, Novo said Monday. Those results covered only patients who stuck with the treatment. But when researchers looked at all trial participants, the results were weaker, showing 13.7% weight loss.

Investors had expected figures closer to 20%, according to David Evans, an analyst at Kepler Cheuvreux. It was the second disappointing large study for CagriSema, after a trial in people with obesity but no history of diabetes fell short of expectations in December. Novo is counting on the new shot to help it defend against a growing number of competitors, led by Eli Lilly & Co., which makes rival shot Zepbound.

“This result further weakens the outlook for CagriSema and raises doubts about Novo’s future drug candidates,” Evans said in a note.

The shares fell as much as 8.8% in Copenhagen, the steepest intraday drop since the first large CagriSema study was released on Dec. 20. Novo has dropped about 38% in the past 12 months, reflecting investor concern about the company’s ability to compete in the weight-loss market in the longer term.

Choosing Dosage

It’s typical for people with diabetes to have a tougher time losing weight on drugs like Novo’s existing blockbuster Wegovy, which mimic the gut hormone GLP-1. The difference has tended to be about 30% to 35%, Jefferies analysts wrote in a note. Monday’s results dashed hopes that CagriSema would be able to buck that trend because it also contains another type of compound, the analysts said.

Patients in the trial were allowed to choose their dose of CagriSema, and after 68 weeks, fewer than two-thirds were on the highest one. The obesity study that disappointed investors last year also saw many patients choose not to take the highest dose of the drug.

The latest results looked “broadly on par” with Lilly’s Zepbound, raising concern among investors that the new medicine might not be differentiated enough against what’s already a blockbuster drug, said Michael Shah, a Bloomberg Intelligence analyst.