Three biopharmas debuted on Nasdaq Sept. 13, raising a combined $703 million for two Massachusetts-based companies focused on bifunctional antibodies for autoimmune diseases and cancer, and one Midwestern firm developing peptide therapies for endocrine and metabolic disorders.
As Novo Nordisk A/S and Eli Lilly and Co. go head-to-head in the U.S. and Chinese glucagon-like peptide-1 receptor agonists (GLP-1RA) market for diabetes and obesity, Novo Nordisk is in innovator gear once more with leading studies of GLP-1s in Alzheimer’s disease.
Chinese pharmaceutical and biotech companies are leading development of glucagon-like peptide-1 receptor agonists as Novo Nordisk A/S and Eli Lilly and Co. edge closer to launching blockbuster therapies in China. At the heart of the GLP-1 boom is a nationwide obesity problem driven by a confluence of factors, including the rise of a modern, sedentary lifestyle, according to Clarivate. Despite the rising prevalence of obesity and type 2 diabetes, the gap in obesity therapeutics is “substantial and leaves a solid market opportunity for weight loss drugs,” Karan Verma, principal analyst of healthcare research & data analytics at Clarivate, said.
Novo Nordisk A/S has exercised an option to license a ligand identified by Kallyope Inc. for further development, including as a potential new approach for the treatment of obesity.
Two leading glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1) receptor agonists for obesity and type 2 diabetes – Novo Nordisk A/S’s semaglutide (Wegovy/Ozempic) and Eli Lilly and Co.’s tirzepatide (Mounjaro/Zepbound) – are advancing in China after taking the U.S. market by storm. China represents the world’s largest population of diabetes and obesity patients. Its GLP-1 market, valued at about $1.7 billion in 2023 according to Clarivate, is expected to grow as the number of obesity patients is projected to exceed 500 million by 2033.
With Novo Nordisk A/S hobbled by a complete response letter, Eli Lilly and Co. has forged ahead in developing a once-weekly type 2 diabetes treatment. Top-line data from Lilly’s phase III Qwint-1 and Qwint-3 studies of efsitora alfa showed noninferior average levels of blood glucose, A1C, compared to those using another daily basal insulin treatment.
The long struggle by Boston-based I2o Therapeutics Inc.’s business unit Intarcia Therapeutics to get long-lasting exenatide for diabetes onto the market ended with a final thumbs-down from the U.S. FDA because of safety concerns. At issue was ITCA-650, a twice-yearly implantable exenatide-device combo meant to improve glycemic control in adults with type 2 diabetes.
The gastrointestinal tract could be key to developing new drugs to combat resistant bacteria. Computational analysis of the human microbiome has revealed a new class of peptides with antimicrobial potential that, once synthesized, inhibited the growth of several microorganisms in vitro and in vivo.
A long-term look at obese and overweight patients with pre-diabetes found that weekly injections of Eli Lilly and Co.’s tirzepatide led to a 94% reduction in their risk of progression to type 2 diabetes compared to placebo – a result that Leerink Partners analyst David Risinger called “exceptional.”
In the wake of shortages for Novo Nordisk A/S’ Ozempic (semaglutide), Australia’s Therapeutic Goods Administration has announced that Wegovy, which has the same active ingredient, is now available in Australia and is advising prescribers to stop prescribing Ozempic off-label for weight loss.
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