The Top Line What were the biggest clinical trial flops of 2025?
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Feb 13, 2026 James Waldron, Fierce Biotech reporter who led the 2025 clinical trial flops report, breaks down high-profile late‑stage failures. He spotlights why big pharma dominated the list. He walks through notable misses from Novo Nordisk and Sanofi, mixed COPD readouts, and surprising wins and losses across rare-disease programs.
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Big Pharma Carries Pipeline Risk
- Big Pharma dominated 2025's high-profile trial failures because large companies are running the most ambitious late-stage programs.
- That concentration reflects pipeline pressure as giants race to refill portfolios before patent cliffs.
Novo's CB1 Bet Hit Safety And Efficacy Issues
- James recounts Novo Nordisk's purchase of Inversago and the CB1 program aimed at a Wagovi successor.
- Monlunabant showed neuropsychiatric side effects and missed a kidney-function endpoint in a 6-week trial.
Quiet Disclosures Signal Troubled Readouts
- Novo quietly disclosed Monlunabant's failed diabetic kidney trial inside an earnings report rather than a standalone release.
- The study missed its primary endpoint and again showed higher neuropsychiatric events among treated patients.