Metabolic disorders
Head-to-head trials are often reserved for approved therapies as drugmakers try to one-up each other to gain further market share. In this case, Novo Nordisk ran the test at the candidate stage, and the bet did not pay off.
After last year’s ‘stampede’ for FGF21 assets, the focus for the metabolic dysfunction-associated steatohepatitis space has shifted toward differentiated approaches, such as THR-β agonists and combination treatments, that seek to mirror the commercial success of Madrigal’s Rezdiffra.
In this episode of Denatured, you’ll be listening to Jane Hughes, President of R&D and Co-founder of Verdiva Bio, and Jon Rees, CEO and Co-founder of MitoRx Therapeutics. We’ll discuss next-generation obesity solutions tackling GLP-1’s muscle loss and adherence challenges, through innovative muscle preservation, oral administration and combination therapy.
Muscle Preservation, Tolerability and Alternative Administration Routes Define Obesity’s Drug Future
In the incredibly hot obesity drug space, with more than 700 clinical trials ongoing, Verdiva Bio and MitoRx leaders discuss how next-generation therapies are targeting lean muscle preservation, extended efficacy and better safety profiles to enable lifelong weight management.
Eli Lilly has long been gearing up for the launch of orforglipron, announcing as early as February 2024 that it was ramping up manufacturing investments for the weight-loss pill.
The oral version of Wegovy has made GLP-1 medicines more accessible and acceptable to many patients who had steered clear of injectable versions, healthcare analytics firm Truveta suggests.
The pact between Madrigal Pharmaceuticals and Ruzhou Ribo Life Sciences could complement the former’s Rezdiffra, the first FDA-approved therapy for MASH. That drug made $287.3 million in the third quarter of 2025.
A lawsuit and FDA warning ensued after Hims & Hers launched a compounded version of Novo Nordisk’s new obesity pill, more Big Pharma report earnings—including from weight loss rivals Novo and Eli Lilly—and the gene therapy space sees another rejection.
Kailera will launch a global Phase 2 study of ribupatide this year, while Hengrui will push the asset into Phase 3 in China.
AstraZeneca will push the pill, elecoglipron, into a comprehensive late-stage program that will test the drug as a monotherapy, as part of a combination regimen and for several indications.
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