Pfizer’s Mixed Readout Places Doubt On Oral GLP-1 For Obesity

 
• By Joseph Haas
  
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Twice-daily danuglipron reduced weight in a Phase IIb trial but with a poor side-effect profile and high discontinuation rates. Pfizer is working on a once-daily formulation it hopes will offer better tolerability.

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Pfizer puts hopes for oral GLP-1 agonist on daily formulation work

The bad news clearly outweighed the good from Pfizer Inc.’s Phase IIb trial of its twice-daily, oral GLP-1 agonist danuglipron for obesity on 1 December, as the pharma said it would not advance the drug into Phase III in its current formulation. Pfizer still is holding out hope for a once-daily formulation it is developing, however, pointing to a pharmacokinetic data readout it expects during the first half of 2024.

Key Takeaways

  • Pfizer’s oral GLP-1 agonist danuglipron met statistical significance for weight loss in a Phase IIb study, but with a grim tolerability profile.

Danuglipron is Pfizer’s best hope for now at competing in the burgeoning obesity space, where Novo Nordisk A/S and...

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