Investors have known for some time that the GLP-1 receptor agonist class offers tremendous promise for treating the underserved obesity population worldwide, but news from Novo Nordisk A/S on cardiovascular outcomes data sent a shiver throughout the space on Aug. 8. Top-line results from the Select trial comparing subcutaneous once-weekly Wegovy (semaglutide) 2.4 mg with placebo showed the treatment reduced major adverse cardiovascular events by a statistically significant 20%.
South Korean pharmaceutical company Hanmi Pharmaceutical Co. Ltd. may have found its footing after its misstep with Sanofi SA in 2020 for efpeglenatide, its glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1) receptor agonist. On July 31, Hanmi announced that the once-dropped drug would be developed to treat obesity in the Korean population, submitting an IND application to the MFDS on July 28 to examine the once-a-week injection efpeglenatide in a phase III trial.
South Korean pharmaceutical company Hanmi Pharmaceutical Co. Ltd. may have found its footing after its misstep with Sanofi SA in 2020 for efpeglenatide, its glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1) receptor agonist. On July 31, Hanmi announced that the once-dropped drug would be developed to treat obesity in the Korean population, submitting an IND application to the MFDS on July 28 to examine the once-a-week injection efpeglenatide in a phase III trial.
To bolster its obesity treatment pipeline, Eli Lilly and Co. is buying Versanis Bio Inc. in a massive cash deal that could reach $1.92 billion. The total amount of the deal includes an up-front payment and development and sales milestone payments. Privately held Versanis, of Boston, brings to Lilly its lead asset bimagrumab, a monoclonal antibody that’s enjoying a resurgence since a failure in treating sarcopenia.
Researchers from the Institute of Translational Genomics at Helmholtz Munich have described a genetic overlap between type 2 diabetes (T2D), a disease that is also associated with obesity, and osteoarthritis, a degeneration of the joints that worsens with age and coincides in the factor risk of being overweight. The researchers used genetic data, multiomics and functional analysis of the tissues T2D and osteoarthritis express to identify which genes were associated and correlated with both diseases. They published their results on July 10, 2023, in The American Journal of Human Genetics.
Sino Biopharmaceutical Ltd. formed a partnership with Gmax Biopharm International Ltd. to develop obesity candidate GMA-106. As part of the $57 million deal, Sino Biopharm acquired greater China rights to develop and commercialize the drug, in exchange for up-front and milestone payments to Gmax.
Sino Biopharmaceutical Ltd. formed a partnership with Gmax Biopharm International Ltd. to develop obesity candidate GMA-106. As part of the $57 million deal, Sino Biopharm acquired greater China rights to develop and commercialize the drug, in exchange for up-front and milestone payments to Gmax.
Mixing a trendy drug for a global health problem like obesity with a demand that far exceeds the supply cooks up a recipe too good for counterfeiters to ignore.
Mixing a trendy drug for a global health problem like obesity with a demand that far exceeds the supply cooks up a recipe too good for counterfeiters to ignore. That’s the problem patients are facing with Novo Nordisk A/S’ semaglutide products, Ozempic and Wegovy, which have been in short supply all over the world since early last year due to significant, and unexpected, demand for weight management.
Swiss biopharma startup Aphaia Pharma AG is taking the concept of “location, location, location” to its extreme. The company started dosing patients in a phase II trial of its lead candidate, Aph-012, in late April, 2023. The trial is a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled, multicenter proof-of-concept study to evaluate Aph-012’s ability to improve glucose tolerance in individuals with prediabetes, as measured by a pathological oral glucose tolerance test. In another phase II trial, Aph-012 is being tested as a weight loss drug for individuals with a BMI between 30 and 40. Aph-012’s active ingredient? Glucose. But delivered exactly to the right place.
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