The obesity drugs waiting to hit the market

Novo Nordisk said a large study had shown its highly effective obesity drug Wegovy also had a clear cardiovascular benefit, boosting the Danish drugmaker’s hopes of moving beyond Wegovy’s image as a lifestyle drug.

Novo, Eli Lilly and Pfizer are among the dozens of drugmakers chasing an up to $100 billion market of obesity treatments, which could also include oral options in the future.

The following is a list of companies targeting the next big blockbuster opportunity:

Novo Nordisk said a large study had shown its highly effective obesity drug, Wegovy, also had a clear cardiovascular benefit

In June, the drugmaker reported late-stage trial data from a high-dose oral version of its drug, semaglutide, helping overweight or obese adults lose 15% of their body weight, in line with recent results for other experimental pills.

The company also has an older product, Saxenda, approved in 2014, but Wegovy is considered safer and more effective.

Eli Lilly reported last year that diabetes drug Mounjaro showed a 22.5% weight loss in people who were obese or overweight but did not have diabetes. Mounjaro is awaiting U.S. regulatory approval for the treatment of obesity.

It said a mid-stage trial of its next-generation obesity drug candidate, a once-weekly injection of retatrutide, showed it led to a weight loss of up to 24.2% after 48 weeks.

Pfizer said it was scrapping the development of its once-a-day pill on concerns about liver safety, but will continue developing its other pill, the twice-daily danuglipron.

The company expects to finalise plans for a late-stage program for danuglipron by the year-end and is also developing a daily version of that drug. In May, danuglipron showed results in weight loss similar to that of Novo’s semaglutide.

Amgen’s experimental obesity drug, AMG133, showed a mean weight loss of 14.5% after 12 weeks of treatment at the highest monthly dose.

Altimmune said in March its drug, pemvidutide, helped reduce weight by more than 10% on average in a mid-stage trial. However, patients also experienced nausea and vomiting of mild and moderate severity.

Viking Therapeutics Inc’s drug, VK2735, showed up to 6% reduction in mean weight in an early-stage study. The company plans to test higher doses of the drug over a longer treatment window in a mid-stage trial.

Zealand Pharma, of Denmark, and Boehringer Ingelheim’s experimental obesity treatment achieved up to 14.9% weight loss in a mid-stage trial on August 9.

Opko Health has completed a mid-stage trial of its obesity drug, pegapamodutide, which it expects will have fewer side effects.