GLP-1
Analysts said the deal with Novo was likely giving Hims “‘credibility’ or increased consumer traffic,” adding that the “litigation risk is back on the table” now that the Danish pharma has stepped away.
With PN-477, Protagonist is directly going up against Eli Lilly, which is advancing retatrutide, also a triple-G agonist, in a Phase II trial.
Altimmune’s pemvidutide failed to significantly improve fibrosis in MASH patients in a Phase IIb study. The biotech crashed 53% in the aftermath of the readout.
In the race to make the most tolerable obesity drug, there seems to be no clear winner—at least not according to analysts parsing the data presented at the American Diabetes Association annual meeting this week.
Eli Lilly’s tirzepatide is expected to be worth $62 billion annually by 2030, according to Evaluate. That valuation would be three times larger than what AbbVie’s blockbuster Humira ever achieved.
Eli Lilly’s bimagrumab led to weight loss that was due almost entirely to fat reduction when combined with semaglutide, marketed by rival Novo Nordisk as Wegovy. BMO Capital Markets called the data “impressive” while raising concerns about the antibody’s safety profile.
After consistently failing to meet investor expectations, Novo Nordisk touted a safety profile for CagriSema in line with the GLP1-RA class, while reporting mid-stage data for its GLP1- and amylin-targeting drug amycretin that raised dosing questions.
Analysts at William Blair say dapiglutide’s 11.6% weight reduction at 28 weeks could still be better, given that Zealand’s study predominantly included men and enrolled patients with lower BMI at baseline.
At 12 weeks, weight loss ranged from 2.6% to 11.3%, compared to a gain of 0.2% in the placebo group. Guggenheim analysts were also impressed by the tolerability profile.
The deal is Lilly’s second obesity tie-up in a week, after sinking up to $870 million into an agreement with Camurus to develop long-acting versions of molecules against GLP-1 and other incretins.
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