Pfizer moves forward with once-daily weight-loss pill
Adds details on timeframe in paragraph 4, analyst comment in paragraphs 7-8
By Michael Erman and Manas Mishra
July 11 (Reuters) -Pfizer PFE.N plans to move a reworked, once-a-day version of its weight-loss pill danuglipron into clinical trials later this year, the company said on Thursday, after scrapping a twice- daily version of the drug late last year.
The new drug is part of the second generation of weight-loss pills under development by companies including Eli Lilly LLY.N and Novo Nordisk NOVOb.CO that will offer patients a more convenient alternative to injections.
Some analysts expect the weight-loss drug market, currently dominated by Novo Nordisk's Wegovy and Eli Lilly's Zepbound, to be worth more than $150 billion in annual sales by the early 2030s.
The drugmaker did not lay out an exact timeline for development of the drug. It plans to evaluate multiple doses of the reformulated drug in the second half of this year before advancing it into clinical trials.
Pfizer last year said it was focusing on the development of the new version of danuglipron after it scrapped the twice-daily version because most patients dropped out of its midstage trial with high rates of side effects such as nausea and vomiting.
It had already dropped another daily weight-loss drug, called lotiglipron, due to safety concerns as it raised levels of liver enzymes in some patients.
JP Morgan analyst Chris Schott said in a research note that Eli Lilly's experimental weight-loss pill has a significant time-to-market advantage over Pfizer's and he was still concerned about side-effects from the drug.
He said he sees "a limited role for the asset absent more clarity on the tolerability profile of the new formulation."
Shares of Pfizer rose 2.8% to $29.14 in premarket trading.
The shares closed at $28.35 on Wednesday and have lost more than half of their value since hitting $61 in December 2021, due to a steep drop in sales of its COVID products and investor worries over its pipeline including lotiglipron.
Pfizer said on Thursday early study results supported a once-daily dosing, with no liver enzyme elevations observed in more than 1,400 healthy adult volunteers.
GLP-1s, originally developed for type 2 diabetes, mimic the action of the GLP-1 hormone to regulate blood sugar, slow digestion and suppress appetite.
Other companies working on next-generation weight loss drugs include Amgen AMGN.O and Viking Therapeutics VKTX.O.
Sales of Pfizer's COVID-19 vaccine and pill have fallen drastically from their peak during the pandemic, putting pressure on CEO Albert Bourla to drive growth through newer drugs.
The company on Tuesday announced that chief scientific officer Mikael Dolsten would step down after a more than 15-year stint with Pfizer.
Reporting by Manas Mishra in Bengaluru and Michael Erman in New Jersey; Editing by Shinjini Ganguli and David Holmes
면책조항: XM Group 회사는 체결 전용 서비스와 온라인 거래 플랫폼에 대한 접근을 제공하여, 개인이 웹사이트에서 또는 웹사이트를 통해 이용 가능한 콘텐츠를 보거나 사용할 수 있도록 허용합니다. 이에 대해 변경하거나 확장할 의도는 없습니다. 이러한 접근 및 사용에는 다음 사항이 항상 적용됩니다: (i) 이용 약관, (ii) 위험 경고, (iii) 완전 면책조항. 따라서, 이러한 콘텐츠는 일반적인 정보에 불과합니다. 특히, 온라인 거래 플랫폼의 콘텐츠는 금융 시장에서의 거래에 대한 권유나 제안이 아닙니다. 금융 시장에서의 거래는 자본에 상당한 위험을 수반합니다.
온라인 거래 플랫폼에 공개된 모든 자료는 교육/정보 목적으로만 제공되며, 금융, 투자세 또는 거래 조언 및 권고, 거래 가격 기록, 금융 상품 또는 원치 않는 금융 프로모션의 거래 제안 또는 권유를 포함하지 않으며, 포함해서도 안됩니다.
이 웹사이트에 포함된 모든 의견, 뉴스, 리서치, 분석, 가격, 기타 정보 또는 제3자 사이트에 대한 링크와 같이 XM이 준비하는 콘텐츠 뿐만 아니라, 제3자 콘텐츠는 일반 시장 논평으로서 "현재" 기준으로 제공되며, 투자 조언으로 여겨지지 않습니다. 모든 콘텐츠가 투자 리서치로 해석되는 경우, 투자 리서치의 독립성을 촉진하기 위해 고안된 법적 요건에 따라 콘텐츠가 의도되지 않았으며, 준비되지 않았다는 점을 인지하고 동의해야 합니다. 따라서, 관련 법률 및 규정에 따른 마케팅 커뮤니케이션이라고 간주됩니다. 여기에서 접근할 수 있는 앞서 언급한 정보에 대한 비독립 투자 리서치 및 위험 경고 알림을 읽고, 이해하시기 바랍니다.
