Roche obesity drug shows 22.5% weight loss in bid to catch up with Eli Lilly and Novo Nordisk

Roche’s experimental obesity drug leads to up to 22.5% weight loss in a mid-stage clinical trial, as the Swiss company attempts to close the gap with market leaders Eli Lilly and Novo Nordisk. This was reported by Reuters.

Roche reported that the placebo-adjusted efficacy in Phase 2 reflects 48 weeks of treatment and was calculated for participants who fully adhered to the therapeutic regimen. When including patients who deviated from the treatment plan, the placebo-adjusted weight loss was 18.3%. The company indicated that longer treatment is likely to lead to even better results.

The drug CT-388 is a once-weekly injectable therapy and is a dual GLP-1 and GIP receptor agonist. It regulates blood sugar and suppresses appetite, belonging to the same class of medications as Eli Lilly’s leading product Zepbound, also known as tirzepatide or Mounjaro.

CT-388 was acquired through Roche’s $2.7 billion purchase of the American biotech company Carmot Therapeutics in 2023.

Roche stated that the results, based on the highest of the five doses studied, confirm their design decisions for two larger Phase 3 clinical trials, which were planned late last year and are expected to begin this quarter.

The company, whose shares have recently been bolstered by positive results in therapies for multiple sclerosis and breast cancer, aims to catch up with Lilly and Novo Nordisk in the obesity drug market, which some analysts believe could reach $150 billion annually by the beginning of the next decade.

However, investor reaction was moderate, with Roche shares rising by about 0.5 percent, as the drug’s market launch remains years away amid intense competition.

According to Jefferies analysts, the published data places CT-388 in a similar efficacy range to Zepbound. Nevertheless, Roche maintains hope that the drug may offer a superior mechanism of action.

Manu Chakravarthy, Roche’s head of development for cardiovascular, renal, and metabolic diseases, commented that the lack of a plateau and the distinct linear trend in the results suggest potential for higher efficacy with longer treatment. According to him, the data further solidifies the company’s commitment to this therapeutic segment.

Roche currently has six drug candidates in clinical trials for the treatment of obesity and related conditions such as type 2 diabetes and hypertension, all of which could reach the market by 2030. The company predicts that three of them have the potential to become blockbusters with annual sales exceeding $1 billion.