Obesity
With data from a mid-stage trial showing weight loss of up to 12.3% at 28 weeks in patients treated with PF’3944, “Pfizer is moving full speed into obesity clinical development,” BMO Capital Markets said Tuesday.
While CagriSema bested Novo Nordisk’s Wegovy on blood sugar control in a late-stage trial, the next-gen weight loss drug still has not met the pharma’s 25% weight loss goal.
The pact, which could see AstraZeneca ultimately put out $18.5 billion in milestones and sales-based payments, is centered on SYH2082, a long-acting dual agonist of the GLP-1 and GIP receptors.
After years of contraction, investors see biotech reentering a growth cycle driven by scientific progress, asset quality and renewed conviction in oncology, obesity and neuroscience innovation.
Roche aims to become a “top three player” in obesity, Teresa Graham, CEO of the group’s Pharma unit, said Thursday during a presentation of the company’s full-year 2025 earnings.
Roche’s obesity candidate achieves 22.5% weight loss in Phase II; Moderna pulls the plug on late-stage vaccine trials as Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy’s anti-vaccine policies and rhetoric continues; and embattled gene therapy maker Sarepta announces new data in Duchenne muscular dystrophy.
Roche said the Phase II results help build the case for advancing CT-388 into late-stage testing, which is set to get underway this quarter.
While Baseline Therapeutics declined to disclose its starting capital, the startup said it will use the funds to push its GLP-1 asset BT-001 into late-stage development, with two trials planned this year.
Corxel will use the fundraising proceeds to advance the oral GLP-1 therapy CX11 through mid-stage development in the U.S., as well as prepare for its Phase III studies.
The obesity market and Most Favored Nation drug pricing were among the topics de jour at the J.P. Morgan Healthcare Conference last week, while smaller biotechs sought to assure investors that their regulatory ducks are in a row; Novo Nordisk’s oral obesity pill got off to a hot start while the FDA delayed a decision on Eli Lilly’s investigational offering; and SpyGlass Pharma and AgomAb Therapeutics join the 2026 IPO club.
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