Structure Therapeutics Inc.’s stock climbed 34.6% following a readout of what analysts call “competitive” and “exceptional” phase Ib data at 28 days of oral small-molecule glucagon-like peptide 1 (GLP-1) receptor agonist GSBR-1290 in healthy overweight or obese individuals. Shares (NASDAQ:GPCR) rose $12.95 to close Sept. 29 at $50.42. At the same time as the data readout, the San Francisco-based company agreed to a $300 million private placement with several large health care institutional and mutual fund investors, extending Structure’s runway through the end of 2026.
Hanmi Science Co. Ltd. is rolling out a new obesity pipeline with five candidates under its relatively new leadership with Lim Ju-hyun, the eldest daughter of Hanmi Pharmaceutical Co. Ltd. founder Lim Sung-ki, who serves as president of Hanmi’s global strategy division. Songpa-gu, Seoul-based Hanmi Science is the holding group of its main drug development and production arm, Hanmi Pharmaceutical, and its wholesaler arm, Online Pharm.
Innovent Biologics Inc. announced a HKD$2.37 billion (US$306 million) placement on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange (HKEX) to advance its late-stage pipeline, including mazdutide, a GLP-1R/GCGR dual agonist for diabetes and obesity. The company plans to offer 68 million new shares priced at HKD$34.92, which represents an 8.8% discount to the previous closing price of HKD$38.30 per share, the company said in a filing on the HKEX. Morgan Stanley is the sole placing agent.
Fractyl Health Inc. reported clinical updates on the Revita real world registry in Germany which has demonstrated clinical remission from type 2 diabetes (T2D) employing a device that resurfaces the duodenal mucosa, the innermost layer of the first portion of the small intestine, and a potential root cause of T2D.
Building out its metabolic franchise, Novo Nordisk A/S is buying privately held Montreal-based Inversago Pharma Inc. for up to $1.075 billion, gaining lead asset INV-202, an oral cannabinoid 1 (CB1) inverse agonist. The candidate has demonstrated weight loss potential in a phase Ib trial and is currently in a phase II for diabetic kidney disease. Novo Nordisk’s interest in INV-202 is to explore its potential for obesity and obesity-related complications.
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.
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