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Pfizer announced on Thursday that it is advancing development of a once-daily weight loss pill, which the company believes could be competitive in the weight loss space.
The news comes as several pharma companies are racing to break up the current weight loss drug duopoly held by Novo Nordisk, the manufacturer of Ozempic and Wegovy, and Eli Lilly, the maker of Zepbound.
Pfizer said it plans to conduct additional early stage trials of a modified version of its experimental weight loss pill danuglipron.
In December, the pharma giant said that a twice-daily version of the pill helped patients, in an early stage trial, lose an average of 8% to 13% of their weight. However, the company decided not advance this formulation to a late stage trial due to a high rate of side effects.
The company instead tested modified versions of the drug and has selected one to move forward to clinical trials where various doses of the pill will be tested.
“Obesity is a key therapeutic area for Pfizer, and the company has a robust pipeline of three clinical and several pre-clinical candidates,” Pfizer chief scientific officer Mikael Dolsten said in a press release. “The most advanced of them, danuglipron, has demonstrated good efficacy in a twice-daily formulation, and we believe a once-daily formulation has the potential to have a competitive profile in the oral GLP-1 space.”
Danuglipron is a GLP-1 treatment, like the weekly injectables Wegovy and Ozempic. These medications work by mimicking a hormone that regulates blood sugar and suppresses appetite.
The race for the next generation of weight loss drugs
After the launch of the diabetes medication Ozempic in 2017 — which has become known for its sliming side effects —, the demand for weight loss drugs has skyrocketed.
Fervent demand for Novo Nordisk’s Wegovy and Ozempic in the last year had the company racing to keep up with supply. The rush of sales at the Denmark-based company even buoyed the nation’s GDP in 2023.
Morgan Stanley analysts anticipate the global market for these drugs, known as GLP-1 treatments, will reach $105 billion by 2030.
Several pharmaceutical companies are now chasing the hype, working to introduce new drugs to get in on the demand. In addition to Pfizer, Viking Therapeutics, Regeneron, Roche, Amgen, and Zealand Pharma are all developing weight loss drugs with hopes to capture some of the market share dominance held by Novo Nordisk and Eli Lilly.
Novo Nordisk and Eli Lilly are also working on developing new weight loss drugs.