Pfizer advances once-daily weight-loss pill in ongoing study

On Thursday, Pfizer announced plans to advance its weight-loss pill after “encouraging” results from an early-stage study. 

The pharmaceutical giant is trying to tap into the highly lucrative market for obesity drugs currently dominated by the likes of Eli Lilly and Novo Nordisk. 

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Pfizer said it has a “robust pipeline” of three clinical and several other pre-clinical candidates but that danuglipron, a once-a-day oral treatment, was “the most advanced of them.” 

The company plans to conduct tests later this year to determine the ideal dose of the drug. 

Mikael Dolsten, the chief scientific officer of Pfizer Research and Development, believes that “a once-daily formulation has the potential to have a competitive profile in the oral GLP-1 space.” 

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GLP-1 agonists are a class of Type 2 diabetes drugs that improves blood sugar control but may also lead to weight loss. Semaglutide, which is the active ingredient in Novo Nordisk’s Wegovy and Ozempic, as well as tirzepatide, which is the active ingredient in Eli Lily’s Mounjaro and Zepbound, are considered GLP-1 drugs.  

Packets of Wegovy move along a conveyor at the Novo Nordisk A/S production facilities in Hillerod, Denmark, on Monday, June 12, 2023.  (Carsten Snejbjerg/Bloomberg via Getty Images / Getty Images)

Danuglipron could help the company turnaround losses incurred due to the drop in demand for its COVID-19 products, Comirnaty and Paxlovid. 

Morgan Stanley said in May that obesity drugs “proved to be a disruptor on a scale matched by few other pharmaceutical innovations.” 

“Their emergence, along with a change in the way that obesity and related illnesses are regarded and treated, has put the new class of drugs on a blockbuster path with no signs of letting up,” the company wrote. 

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Morgan Stanley analysts projected that the global obesity drug market will reach over $100 billion in 2030 but could notch as high as $144 billion especially as their use expands beyond weight loss to help treat other diseases, according to Morgan Stanley analysts. 

There were $6 billion in sales alone in 2023.