Factbox: Weight-loss drug developers line up to tap market worth $150 billion

Altimmune

20/12/2024 14:59

(Updates with latest trial details on Novo, Lilly, Amgen,
Viking, and Zealand Pharma; adds Merck and AstraZeneca)
       Dec 20 (Reuters) - Novo Nordisk's  NOVOb.CO  Wegovy and
Eli Lilly's  LLY.N  Zepbound are so far the leaders in the
weight-loss drug market, which is estimated to be worth about
$150 billion by the early 2030s.
    There are also several other drug developers aiming to join
the bandwagon. The following is a list of publicly listed
companies targeting the next big blockbuster opportunity:
     
    NOVO NORDISK
    Novo's closely-watched obesity drug candidate CagriSema
helped overweight patients cut their weight by 22.7% in a
late-stage trial, but that was below its own expectations of up
to 25% reduction.
    The data compares to weight loss of about 15% after 68 weeks
in a trial for Wegovy.
    CagriSema is a weekly injection, which combines semaglutide,
the active ingredient in Wegovy and mimics the gut hormone
GLP-1, and a separate molecule called cagrilintide that mimics
the pancreatic hormone amylin.
    The two hormones combined suppress hunger and help control
patients' blood glucose.
    Novo is also developing a weight-loss pill, amycretin, which
helped obese participants lose 13.1% of their weight after 12
weeks of treatment in an early-stage study.
    The company said in September it plans to decide on further
studies for amycretin after data from an early study on a
subcutaneous version of the drug, which is expected next year.
    It is set to buy three of contract drug manufacturer
Catalent's fill-finish sites in Italy, Belgium and the U.S. to
help boost Wegovy's production.
    Novo Holdings, the controlling shareholder of Novo Nordisk,
completed its acquisition of Catalent on Dec. 18.
    
    ELI LILLY
    Eli Lilly's weight-loss therapy, Zepbound, got the green
light from the U.S. and UK regulators last year, paving the way
for a powerful new rival to Novo's Wegovy.
    Earlier in December, Lilly said patients taking Zepbound
lost 47% more weight than those who were given Wegovy in the
first large, head-to-head trial of the highly in-demand rival
medicines.
    In the 751-person trial sponsored by Lilly, Zepbound helped
patients lose an average of 20.2% of their weight after 72 weeks
compared to 13.7% for the group treated with Wegovy.
    In 2023, Lilly had said a mid-stage trial of its
next-generation obesity drug candidate, a once-weekly injection
of retatrutide, led to weight loss of up to 24.2% after 48
weeks.
    Lilly is currently testing retatrutide in late-stage trials.
    It is testing another experimental obesity pill,
orforglipron, in a late-stage trial and expects to disclose data
from the study in April 2025.
    The highest dose of orforglipron led to 14.7% weight loss
after 36 weeks in obese patients, data from a mid-stage trial
had showed.
  
    PFIZER
    In July, Pfizer  PFE.N  said it planned to enter clinical
trials later this year for a reworked, once-a-day version of its
weight-loss pill, danuglipron.
    The drugmaker said last year it was stopping further trials
of a twice-daily version of danuglipron.
   
    ROCHE AND CARMOT THERAPEUTICS
    Roche  ROG.S  acquired CT-388 as part of its $2.7 billion
buyout of Carmot Therapeutics. Carmot's once-a-week injection
belongs to the same class as Eli Lilly's  LLY.N  Mounjaro, or
Zepbound.
    In July, the company announced that a second drug candidate
from its purchase of Carmot yielded positive results in an
early-stage trial.
    Roche said its experimental pill, which could appeal to
patients averse to injections, was well tolerated with mostly
mild or moderate gastrointestinal side effects similar to those
seen in other weight-loss drugs.
    
    AMGEN
    In November, Amgen's  AMGN.O  closely-watched experimental
obesity drug MariTide helped overweight patients shed up to
20%of their body weight in an year-long mid-stage trial.
    Analysts said MariTide's weight-loss benefit was in line
with Wegovy and Zepbound, but had slightly more side effects.
    
    MERCK
    In December, Merck  MRK.N  signed a licensing deal worth up
to $2 billion for Chinese biotech Hansoh Pharma's  3692.HK 
experimental oral drug to treat obesity, becoming a late
contender in the race to offer a weight-loss pill to replace
weekly shots.
    The drug, HS-10535, is a GLP-1 receptor agonist candidate
similar to Wegovy and Zepbound.
    
    ASTRAZENECA
    AstraZeneca's  AZN.L  experimental weight-loss pill,
licensed a year ago from China's Eccogene for up to $2 billion,
was found to be safe and tolerable in an early-stage trial in
November.
    The drugmaker said it has progressed the once-daily pill,
called AZD5004, into mid-stage trials.
    
    ALTIMMUNE
    Altimmune  ALT.O  said last year its drug candidate,
pemvidutide, helped reduce weight by 15.6% on average and showed
continued weight loss at the end of treatment in a mid-stage
trial.
    Patients, however, also experienced nausea and vomiting of
mild and moderate severity. 
    
    VIKING THERAPEUTICS
    Viking Therapeutics  VKTX.O  said in February its
experimental drug, VK2735, helped patients achieve up to 14.7%
mean weight loss after 13 weeks of treatment in a mid-stage
study, which had enrolled 176 overweight adults with at least
one weight-related comorbidity.
    In November, the company said the drug helped nine patients,
who received the highest 100 milligram dose, lose an average of
8.2% of their body weight after 28 days in an early-stage trial.
    
    ZEALAND PHARMA 
    Danish biotech Zealand Pharma  ZELA.CO  said in June a high
dose of its weight-loss drug candidate petrelintide helped
reduce weight by an average 8.6% after 16 weekly doses in an
early-stage study.
    The company said in August it is set to start talks with
other pharmaceutical companies in the second half of this year
for potential partnerships to develop and commercialize
petrelintide.
    Zealand is currently testing petrelintide in overweight or
obese individuals without type 2 diabetes in a mid-stage study.
    
    STRUCTURE THERAPEUTICS
    Structure Therapeutics  GPCR.O  said in June its
experimental oral obesity drug helped reduce weight by 6.2% on
average at the end of 12 weeks in a mid-stage study.

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Weight-loss drug forecasts jump to $150 billion as supply grows 
  https://www.reuters.com/business/healthcare-pharmaceuticals/weight-loss-drug-forecasts-jump-150-billion-supply-grows-2024-05-28/
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 (Reporting by Mariam Sunny, Pratik Jain, Sriparna Roy, Leroy
Leo, Sneha S K and Nathan Gomes in Bengaluru; Editing by Sriraj
Kalluvila, Pooja Desai, Maju Samuel, Tasim Zahid and Shilpi
Majumdar)
 ((Mariam.ESunny@thomsonreuters.com))