Pfizer puts daily weight loss pill Danuglipron after a liver injury
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Pfizer On Monday it said that it would end the development of its experimental daily weight loss pill after a patient had experienced a liver injury that may have been caused by the medication in a study.
The patient had no liver-related symptoms or side effects, a Pfizer spokesman said in a statement. They added that the patient's liver enzymes “quickly recovered” after taking the pill, an oral GLP 1 drug called Danuglipron. The statement suggests that the patient's liver enzymes were increased, which often indicates damage to cells in the organ and is a problem associated with some other obese medications.
The case occurred in an attempt that quickly increased the dose of the pill over a short period of time, said the spokesman. Pfizer's decision to stop the development of the drug was carried out according to a publication “A review of the totality of the information, including all clinical data generated for Danuglipron and the latest input from supervisory authorities”.
“While we are disappointed to stop the development of Danuglipron, we are still obliged to evaluate and promote the patient to promising programs in order to bring innovative new medication,” said Dr. Chris Boshoff, Chief Scientific Officer from Pfizer, in the press release. He added that the company still develops other weight loss medication.
The announcement adds a number of setbacks from the company to gain a piece of the booming market for GLP-1, which imitates certain intestinal hormones to reduce the appetite and regulate blood sugar. Pfizer belongs to several drug manufacturers to bring a more convenient drug to reduce weight into a room that is dominated by weekly injections, but it is years behind competitors like how Eli Lilly And Novo Nordisk.
Some Wall Street analysts expect the GLP 1 industry to be worth more than $ 150 billion by the early 2030s. The oral GLP-1 could grow from this sum at a value of $ 50 billion, while the injections would make up the rest according to some analyst estimates.
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This is also not the first behind Pfizer with Danuglipron, especially with Danuglipron. In December 2023, the company hired a two daily version of the pill after the patients had problems tolerating the medication in a medium -level study.
But Pfizer seemed confident in the once daily form of Danuglipron in July when it would begin in the second half of the year with the implementation of studies to evaluate several cans of the pill.
Despite his decision to scrap the medication, Pfizer said on Monday that these studies had achieved the central goals and confirmed a certain form and dose of the pill with the potential to provide “competitive effectiveness and tolerance” in studies in the late stage.
The company also found that the rate of increased liver enzymes in people who have taken Danuglipron matched with approved GLP 1 medication that is based on a safety database of more than 1,400 patients who took the Pfizer pill.
In June 2023, Pfizer scrapped another daily obesity pill after patients who took this medication to have higher liver enzyme levels in a medium-level study. Since then, investors have had pessimistic about the company's potential in the GLP 1 area.
Nevertheless, Pfizer has other experimental obese medications in his pipeline in the early development stages, which seem to work differently as the now discounted treatments. This includes an oral medication that blocks another intestinal hormone called, which last year entered the studies in phase in phase, and an additional oral GLP-1 in phase 1 studies.
Pfizer believes that a medication that is aimed at Gipr could be more effective and easier for the patients, the former scientific officer Mikael Dolsten, who has left the company since then, told investors in October. He added that “there are so many applications for GLP-1S”.
Pfizer's Danuglipron promotes weight loss through Targeting of GLP-1. Eli Lilly's weight loss injection Zepbound and diabetes shot Mounjaro Target GLP-1, also activate another intestinal hormone called Gip.
The only oral GLP-1, which was previously approved by the Food and Drug Administration, is Novo Nordisks Rybelsus, the type 2 diabetes and in 2024 turns sales of around 3.38 billion in turnover.
Pfizer's announcement comes on Monday when the company regained its foundation and restores its share price after the rapid decline in its covid business. Pfizer relies on his pipeline of cancer medication to achieve long -term growth, but has emphasized that obesity is an important focus.
