Roche Shares Drop on Concern About Obesity Pill Side Effects

  • Most patients developed side effects like nausea or vomiting
  • Roche’s pill may be easier to make than Novo and Lilly shots
WATCH: Sam Fazeli of Bloomberg Intelligence explains the concerns around the experimental Roche pill.Source: Bloomberg
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Roche Holding AG’s shares slid the most in more than a month after its closely-watched experimental obesity pill was tied to side effects, raising questions about the drugmaker’s competitiveness in the hottest new pharmaceutical market.

Roche dropped as much as 5% in early trading in Zurich on Thursday after releasing results of a small study that showed high rates of nausea and vomiting, as well as other side effects. The company presented the findings late Wednesday to a packed audience at the European Association for the Study of Diabetes meeting in Madrid.