Novo Nordisk's third-quarter impairment from ziltivekimab comes into view

Novo Nordisk has stopped two more late-stage trials of ziltivekimab, an experimental anti-inflammatory injection for heart disease, after an independent data monitoring committee found the drug was unlikely to show a benefit. The company told investigators on September 4, 2026 that the HERMES and ATHENA heart failure trials would close early, and the news became public on September 7 ^[1]. That follows the July 31, 2026 failure of a third trial, ZEUS, which tested ziltivekimab in more than 6,300 people with atherosclerotic heart disease, chronic kidney disease, and signs of inflammation ^[2].

Ziltivekimab is not a GLP-1 drug like Ozempic, Wegovy, or Rybelsus. It is a monthly injectable antibody that blocks interleukin-6 (IL-6), a protein tied to inflammation, and it was developed separately by Novo Nordisk as a possible new heart disease treatment ^[1][2]. In ZEUS, the drug lowered inflammation markers as expected, cutting a marker called hsCRP much as it had in an earlier phase 2 study, but that biological effect did not translate into fewer heart attacks, strokes, or cardiovascular deaths. The hazard ratio for the primary endpoint was 0.99, meaning essentially no difference from placebo (95% CI, 0.88-1.11) ^[2]. People taking ziltivekimab in that trial also had more serious infections than those on placebo, though overall side effects and deaths were similar between groups ^[2].

Novo Nordisk has said the ZEUS result will not change its adjusted operating profit outlook for 2026, because the financial hit will show up as a non-cash impairment charge in the third quarter of 2026, a type of accounting write-down that sits outside the adjusted profit figure the company highlights to investors ^[2]. The sources reviewed here do not give a dollar figure for that charge; they describe analysts as only beginning to size it once HERMES and ATHENA were also halted, against a ziltivekimab franchise some had previously modeled as a multibillion-dollar product line ^[1].

With HERMES and ATHENA now stopped for futility, only one ziltivekimab trial remains active: ARTEMIS, which is testing the drug in people recovering from a recent heart attack. Novo Nordisk and outside coverage both point to a first-half 2027 readout for that study ^[1][2]. Coverage of the halts also notes that two other companies pursuing different theories of heart disease risk, including a Novartis program, have also reported trial failures within weeks of each other, which analysts say could cool broader investment in cardiovascular drug research ^[1].

Why it matters for patients

For patients taking semaglutide products or considering them, this news is about Novo Nordisk's broader pipeline, not about the safety or effectiveness of Ozempic, Wegovy, or Rybelsus themselves. The sources are clear that the accounting charge from ziltivekimab is non-cash and does not change the company's adjusted operating profit outlook for 2026 ^[2], so there is no information here suggesting an effect on GLP-1 drug pricing, supply, or approval status.

Patients enrolled in the HERMES or ATHENA studies will stop receiving the monthly ziltivekimab injections they had signed up for, since those trials are closing early ^[1]. Anyone in those trials with questions about what happens next should look to communications from the study site and Novo Nordisk directly, since the sources here do not describe the specifics of trial wind-down for individual participants.

What happens next

Novo Nordisk is expected to report third-quarter 2026 results that include the non-cash impairment tied to ziltivekimab, though the exact size of that charge is not given in the sources reviewed ^[1][2]. The one ziltivekimab trial still running, ARTEMIS, is expected to read out results in the first half of 2027, and that data will determine whether any part of the ziltivekimab program continues ^[1][2].