Roche highlights promising results from early obesity drug trial
Swiss pharmaceutical giant Roche has announced encouraging outcomes from an early-stage trial for its new obesity drug candidate, CT-996. This development emerges from its acquisition of Carmot Therapeutics. On Wednesday, 17th of July, 2024, Roche revealed that CT-996, a once-daily oral medication, demonstrated a significant placebo-adjusted average weight loss of 6.1% over a span of four weeks among patients with obesity who do not have diabetes.
The positive trial results, reported during a Phase I study, have notably propelled Roche’s stock up by 6.1% to a one-year peak at 1025 GMT. This surge mirrors the market’s response to earlier favourable results from another Carmot drug, underlining Roche’s burgeoning presence in the competitive obesity treatment landscape.
Currently, Roche is positioning itself against established players like Novo Nordisk and Eli Lilly, whose injectable weight-loss therapies are witnessing soaring demand. Forecasts for the market of such obesity treatments are expected to potentially reach $150 billion by the early 2030s.
Roche’s CT-996, appealing particularly to those who prefer pills over injections, has been well-received with primarily mild or moderate gastrointestinal side effects, comparable to those associated with other drugs in the weight-loss category.
Despite the promising data, Roche is navigating a rapidly evolving and crowded sector, aiming to develop oral formulations that effectively match the efficacy of the more prevalent weekly injections. Other companies, including Structure Therapeutics and Pfizer, are also making significant headway in this space. Structure Therapeutics reported a 6.2% weight loss after 12 weeks in a Phase II trial, while Pfizer recently outlined plans for trials of its revamped daily pill. Additionally, Viking Therapeutics showed a 3.3% weight loss at the four-week mark with its pill.
Manu Chakravarthy, Head of Metabolic Drug Development at Roche, commented on the challenges and potentials within the industry, noting the inherent unpredictability of side effects with small-molecule chemical compounds compared to the established peptide-based obesity drugs. “Having worked with many small molecules for most of my life, I can say it’s never over until it’s over. It’s a very different beast from an injectable formulation,” Chakravarthy stated.
Looking forward, Roche plans to advance CT-996 into Phase II clinical trials next year. Meanwhile, another Carmot-derived drug, CT-388, which is a self-administered once-weekly injection similar to the leading products from Novo and Lilly, also showed success in its Phase I trial in May.
In a strategic move to strengthen its position in the market, Roche acquired Carmot Therapeutics in December for $2.7 billion, signalling its commitment to expanding its portfolio in the obesity drug arena and challenging the dominance of Novo and Lilly in this field.
