With new results from Wave Life Sciences Ltd., Structure Therapeutics Inc. and Ascletis Pharma Inc., obesity management drugs continue to move forward in producing weight loss and move the market.
Industry watchers were surprised when Eli Lilly and Co.’s oral GLP-1 candidate, orforglipron, did not appear among the first nine recipients of the U.S. FDA’s commissioner’s national priority voucher (CNPV) program aimed at shortening regulatory review times, boosting domestic manufacturing and improving affordability. But orforglipron, which recently nailed endpoints in a second phase III trial and has been hailed a potentially best-in-class compound, was among the second batch of six drugs added to the CNPV list.
Hailing it as a win-win and a historic step forward in fighting chronic disease, the Trump administration announced pricing agreements Nov. 6 with Eli Lilly and Co. and Novo Nordisk A/S that will expand the availability of the companies’ weight loss drugs by cutting prices and, for the first time, providing coverage for the drugs in obesity through Medicare and Medicaid.
Eli Lilly and Co.’s regulatory ducks are lined up nicely with the latest positive top-line results from the phase III Attain-2 trial testing orforglipron, an oral glucagon-like peptide 1 (GLP-1) receptor agonist, in adults with obesity or overweight and type 2 diabetes.
Rates of adverse events (AEs) gave pause to some on Wall Street, and shares of Viking Therapeutics Inc. (NASDAQ:VKTX) fell 42%, or $17.73, to close Aug. 19 at $24.36 after the firm reported 13-week data from the phase II trial with the oral tablet form of VK-2735, the company's dual agonist of the glucagon-like peptide 1 (GLP-1) and glucose-dependent insulinotropic polypeptide (GIP) receptors.
Days after Pfizer Inc. pulled the plug on its oral GLP-1 candidate danuglipron, Eli Lilly and Co. aired positive top-line data from the phase III trial called Achieve-1 testing orforglipron vs. placebo in adults with type 2 diabetes and inadequate glycemic control with diet and exercise alone.
Pfizer Inc. is ending work on oral GLP-1 candidate danuglipron for weight loss following the report of a single potentially drug-induced liver injury, a move that appears to open the door for other firms working on oral therapies in the high-dollar obesity space, even as industry watchers seek further details to determine whether similar safety signals could emerge for those competitors.
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.
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.
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.
