A deal crafted in May 2022 between Novo Nordisk A/S and Flagship Pioneering has culminated into two separate research collaborations that are worth up to $532 million each in up-front and milestone payments for Omega Therapeutics Inc. and Cellarity Inc.
Sciwind Biosciences Co. Ltd.’s injectable glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1) analog, ecnoglutide (XW-003), achieved positive top-line results in a phase III trial in Chinese adults with type 2 diabetes. A long-acting, cAMP signaling biased GLP-1 analog, ecnoglutide is being developed for treating type 2 diabetes and obesity. GLP-1 receptor agonists are increasingly gaining attention in the obesity therapy area.
If there is one therapeutic area for which numerous biopharma companies and investors have shown increasing amounts of interest in 2023, it is obesity through follow-on glucagon-like peptide-1 receptor agonists, as well as combination and solo efforts with other potential mechanisms. Analysts have suggested the obesity market (which includes overweight individuals) could grow to more than $50 billion by 2030. At least.
Given what CEO Raymond Stevens called a space that’s “evolving extremely rapidly,” Structure Therapeutics Inc. chose – rather than wait for next year’s 12-week data – to unblind the eight-week obesity findings with GSBR-1290, an oral glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1) agonist for which the firm also provided a phase IIa update in patients with type 2 diabetes.
The same mechanism of action deployed by Eli Lilly and Co.’s obesity drug Mounjaro (tirzepatide) helped lure Roche Holding AG to the buyout of Carmot Therapeutics Inc., as the pharma giant agreed to pay $2.7 billion up front for the privately held outfit, promising another $400 million if milestones are met.
Altimmune Inc.’s peptide-based glucagon-like peptide-1/glucagon dual receptor agonist pemvidutide hiccupped in a phase I study earlier this year but has bounced back with top-line results from its phase II study in obesity. Results showed robust reductions in body mass index and serum lipids, along with improvements in blood pressure with no imbalances in cardiac events, arrhythmias or clinically meaningful increases in heart rate. The data showed liver-fat loss similar to Novo Nordisk A/S’ GLP-1 drug Wegovy (semaglutide).
More details of Novo Nordisk A/S’ phase III Select trial indicate that risk reductions in major adverse cardiovascular events were achieved regardless of age, gender, ethnicity and starting body mass index when obese and overweight patients were treated with Wegovy (semaglutide, 2.4 mg). Statistical significance was seen, however, only with the reduction of heart attacks and not other measures that were part of the trial.
Astrazeneca plc will pay up to $2 billion for Eccogene Co. Ltd.’s oral weight loss candidate, ECC-5004, as big and small pharma players alike work to gain ground in the burgeoning obesity market where Eli Lilly and Co. scored the latest U.S. FDA approval of Zepbound (tirzepatide).
Orsobio Inc., already in the clinic with three candidates, has completed its $60 million series A financing. The company, CEO Mani Subramanian told BioWorld, has taken its time to find the right programs, put them together and only raised capital when it saw the programs had legs. Even the series A is a measured step, as Subramanian called the financing “modest.”
A year-and-a-half after Eli Lilly and Co.’s Mounjaro (tirzepatide) gained U.S. FDA approval for adults with type 2 diabetes, the GLP-1 and GIP dual agonist was cleared for chronic weight management in adults who are obese or overweight and who also have one related condition.
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