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Pfizer On Monday it said it would put an end to the development of his experimental daily pill with weight loss after a patient had experienced a liver injury that may have been caused by the medicine in a study.
The patient did not experience liver -related symptoms or side effects, a Pfizer spokesperson said in a statement. They added that the liver enzymes of the patient “recover quickly” after they stopped taking the pill, an oral GLP-1 drug called Danuglipron. The statement suggests that the liver enzymes of the patient were increased, which often indicates damage to cells in the organ and is a problem that is linked to other obesity medicines.
The case took place in a test that quickly raised the dose of the pill for a short period, the spokesperson said. Pfizer's decision to stop the development of the medicine came after “an overview of the totality of information, including all clinical data generated so far for Danuglipron and recent input from supervisors,” said a release.
“Although we are disappointed to end Danuglipron's development, we remain committed to evaluating and promoting promising programs in an attempt to bring innovative new medicines to patients,” Dr. Chris Boshoff, Chief Scientific Officer of Pfizer, in the release. He added that the company still develops other drugs for weight loss.
The announcement contributes to a series of setbacks of the company to win a piece of the flourishing market for GLP-1's, which simulates certain intestinal hormones to get off the appetite and regulate blood sugar. Pfizer is one of the different drugsters who race to bring a more convenient weight loss drug to a space dominated by weekly injections, but it is years behind competitors such as competitors Eli Lilly And Novo Nordisk.
Some analysts from Wall Street expect that the GLP-1 industry is worth more than $ 150 billion in the early 2030s. Oral GLP-1's could become $ 50 billion of that total, while injections would explain the rest, according to some analysts.
This is also not Pfizer's first set back with Danuglipron, in particular. In December 2023, the company stopped a twice-day version of the pill after patients had problems tolerating the drug in a mid-phase study.
But Pfizer seemed to have faith in the once day of Danuglipron in July, when it said that in the second half of the year it would carry out studies to evaluate several doses of the pill.
Despite the decision to delete the medicine, Pfizer said on Monday that those studies have achieved the most important goals and confirmed a certain form and dose of the pill with the potential to deliver “competitiveness and tolerability” in late internship.
The company also noted that the speed of increased liver enzymes in people who have taken Danuglipron is in line with approved GLP-1 drugs, which is based on a safety database of more than 1,400 patients who have taken the Pfizer pill.
Pfizer deleted another day of Obesity pill back in June 2023 after patients who used that medicine had higher liver honeydo levels in a middle study. Investors have since been pessimistic about the potential of the company in the GLP-1 room.
Nevertheless, Pfizer has other experimental obesity drugs in his pipeline in the early stages of development that seem to work differently than the now-discovered treatments. This includes an oral medicine that blocks another intestinal hormone that is called GIPR, which started phase two-search last year, and investigating an extra once day-1 GLP-1 in phase one.
Pfizer believes that a drug aimed at GIPR can be more effective and easier for patients to tolerate, former chief scientific officer Mikael Dolsten, who has since left the company, told investors in October. He added that “there are so many applications for GLP-1's.”
Danuglipron from Pfizer promotes weight loss by focusing on GLP-1, and that is also how Novo Nordisk's weight loss injection Wegovy and diabetes treatment Ozempic work. Eli Lilly's weight loss injection zepbound and diabetes shot Mounjaro Target GLP-1 but also activate another intestinal hormone called GIP.
The only oral GLP-1 approved by the Food and Drug Administration so far is Rybelsus from Novo Nordisk, who treats type 2 diabetes and is achieved by around $ 3.38 billion in sale in 2024.
The announcement of Pfizer comes on Monday when the company regains its foot and restores its share price after the rapid decline in his COVID company. Pfizer gambles on his pipeline of medicines for cancer to deliver long -term growth, but has emphasized that obesity is an important focus.
