Pfizer is developing a weight-loss pill to enter the lucrative obesity treatment market and recover from the impact of the pandemic.
Pfizer announced on Thursday that the once-daily drug, known as danuglipron, will enter mid-stage research in the second half of this year after clearing a scientific hurdle in a small trial.
According to Pfizer, the next trial will be designed to determine the optimal pill dose. If successful, the medicine will advance to the final stage of research.
Pfizer stock surged nearly 3% before falling back in early trading in New York.
The pill is intended as a non-needle alternative to Novo Nordisk and Eli Lilly’s blockbuster weight-loss shots.
Pfizer expects pills to eventually account for roughly one-third of the obesity medicine industry, which analysts project would increase to almost US$130 billion by the decade’s end.
The pill is intended to mirror the effects of Novo’s blockbuster injectable semaglutide, known as Wegovy and Ozempic.
Pfizer has struggled to make progress in treating obesity. Late this year, the business discontinued the development of a twice-daily version of danuglipron after high rates of nausea and vomiting caused patients to drop out of a mid-stage research involving over 1,400 participants.
Months before, it abandoned another oral obesity medicine that had shown troubling liver consequences in a trial.
The business is years behind Novo and Lilly, whose monthly Zepbound injection is primed for blockbuster sales after receiving US approval last year.
Lilly is also developing an oral obesity therapy that is nearing completion. AstraZeneca Plc, Structure Therapeutics, and other businesses are also developing oral medications.
According to a federal register, Pfizer investigated the once-daily version of danuglipron in a trial involving only 20 participants, examining four medicine formulations to determine the most effective.
The corporation did not reveal the study’s precise findings, simply stating that it was moving forward with one of them.
If the pill is effective, it may relieve some pressure on Pfizer CEO Albert Bourla, who has battled to convince investors that the company’s pipeline of medicines can eventually reverse its post-pandemic slump.
Sales declined 20% in the first quarter of the year as demand for its COVID-19 vaccination and tablet dropped. Pfizer’s financial estimate for this year was far lower than Wall Street’s expectations, and its RSV vaccine underperformed.
Analysts’ initial reactions have been modest, however. Pfizer’s long-awaited update on its obesity pill reveals little, and under the best-case scenario, the treatment could not be introduced until 2028, “at which point multiple competitors may be available,” according to Sam Fazeli, director of research at Bloomberg Intelligence.
“Progress here has been slower than expected and offers nothing for now to assess potential competitive positioning,” Fazeli told the conference.
Source: South China Morning Post
