Several Asia biotechs this week – including Innocare Pharma Ltd., Akeso Pharmaceuticals Inc., Sanbio Co. Ltd. and Ascletis Pharma Inc. – unveiled the start of new late-stage clinical trials or interim findings from early stage studies.
Resident immune cells, including type 2 innate lymphoid cells (ILC2s), play a key role in adipose tissue homeostasis. Researchers from Sungkyunkwan University and affiliated organizations evaluated the impact of ILC2s on systemic metabolic regulation in obesity.
Several Asia biotechs this week – including Innocare Pharma Ltd., Akeso Pharmaceuticals Inc., Sanbio Co. Ltd. and Ascletis Pharma Inc. – unveiled the start of new late-stage clinical trials or interim findings from early stage studies.
Researchers from MBX Biosciences Inc. presented preclinical data on MBX-4291, a prodrug developed as a long-acting GLP-1/GIP co-agonist through MBX’s proprietary Precision Endocrine Peptide (PEP) platform.
Allurion Technologies Inc. is cleared by regulators in France to resume sales of its swallowable gastric balloon to treat obesity, in the country. Last summer, the company withdrew the Allurion Balloon from the French market amid concerns about the safety of the weight loss device. The greenlight to relaunch the product is good news for Allurion given that France represents a sizeable portion of its market.
While first-generation glucagon-like peptide-1 receptor agonists have clearly taken the obesity market by storm, generating billions of dollars for Novo Nordisk A/S and Eli Lilly and Co., several other companies are developing follow-on products that could clean up the tolerability and adherence issues of Wegovy (semaglutide) and Zepbound (tirzepatide).
Amid a strengthening offensive against direct-to-consumer drug ads, two senators flagged a Super Bowl ad promoting compounded drugs as part of the company’s attack on the U.S. weight-loss industry that it said was built to keep Americans “sick and stuck.”
A week after the first IPO of the year was priced, obesity treatment developer Metsera Inc. and renal specialist Maze Therapeutics Inc. have begun trading on Nasdaq. Metsera (NASDAQ:MTSR) surged 47% on Jan. 31 to close at $26.50 per share while Maze (NASDAQ:MAZE) barely budged, closing three-tenths of a percentage point lower on the day.
Positive data for Veru Inc.’s enobosarm lend more weight to the potential progress of the company’s body-mass preservation program in patients taking Wegovy (semaglutide). The side effect of lean mass loss has dogged those taking GLP-1s. The study results didn’t support the company’s stock on the day of the data release as it had the previous four weeks.
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