Pfizer Thursday said it would go ahead Once-a-day weight loss pill, Tangliplonafter seeing “encouraging” data in an ongoing early-stage study.
The company evaluated several once-daily formulations of the drug and determined one that was “the most favorable” in terms of safety and the body’s response to the drug.
A Pfizer spokesperson told CNBC that it plans to conduct more early-stage trials in the second half of the year to determine the ideal dose of the drug, with results expected in the first quarter of next year. The trials will “inform registration support studies” that will be used to apply for regulatory approval, the company said.
Outgoing Pfizer chief scientific officer Dr. Mikael Dolsten said in a note that Danuglipron “has demonstrated promising efficacy in a twice-daily formulation, and we believe a once-daily formulation has the potential to advance in the oral GLP-1 space.” competitive”. release. Notably, the company did not observe any liver safety concerns in patients receiving the once-daily formulation of the drug.
Pfizer is one of several drugmakers vying for market share in the GLP-1 agonist class of weight loss and diabetes drugs. Some analysts expect the industry to be worth Approximately US$100 billion The end of the decade.
But so far, Pfizer has struggled to break into the market.
Pharmaceutical giants in December discontinued In a mid-stage study, danuglipron was administered twice daily after patients had difficulty tolerating the drug. At the time, Pfizer said early study data on the once-daily version would “Inform the way forward.”
But since the company’s inception, investors have been pessimistic about the company’s potential in the GLP-1 space. scrapped The once-daily medication was changed in June 2023 due to elevated liver enzymes in treated patients. those are among them a series of setbacks Pfizer faced a rapid decline in business last year due to the coronavirus pandemic, causing its stock price to take a heavy hit.
Nonetheless, Pfizer Other experiments Obesity drugs are in the early stages of development. The company has not yet revealed how the treatments will work.
“Obesity is a key therapeutic area for Pfizer, and the company has a strong pipeline of three clinical and several preclinical candidates,” Dostin said in the release.
Pfizer also believes GLP-1 has only “scratched the surface of the obesity problem,” CEO Albert Bourla said at a conference in June.
Pfizer’s danuglipron is a GLP-1 that promotes weight loss in the same way Novo Nordisk’Injections of Wegovy and diabetes treatment Ozempic. These drugs mimic a hormone called GLP-1 produced in the gut that signals the brain when people are full.
Novo Nordisk’s injectables and Eli Lilly and Company Despite the price tag and limited coverage, demand surged last year.
The two companies, along with Pfizer and other drugmakers, have been racing to develop oral version More convenient for patients to take and easier to manufacture, which could help alleviate supply shortages in the U.S.
Pfizer has previously said it may acquire or partner with a smaller obesity drugmaker.
Bourla told reporters at a press conference january meeting Pfizer is unlikely to buy an obesity treatment in late-stage development, especially as the company focuses on cost cutting.
But he said Pfizer was looking at potential licensing deals or early-stage weight-loss drugs.
Pfizer’s update on danuglipron comes days after the company said it was searching for Dolsten’s successor, who would Step down After working for this pharmaceutical company for over 15 years. Dostin played a crucial role in the development of Pfizer’s COVID-19 vaccine.
