As per the sources in a medical journal, Pfizer Inc's diabetes drug resulted in weight loss comparable to Novo Nordisk's Ozempic in a mid-stage study testing it in patients with type 2 diabetes.
Pfizer shares rose about 4.5% in response to the news, which comes at a time when investor interest in the weight-loss treatment market is expected to reach $100 billion by the end of the decade.
According to mid-stage data published last year by the US drugmaker, Pfizer's danuglipron, when given twice daily, lowered blood sugar in patients at all doses and reduced body weight at the highest dose after 16 weeks compared to placebo.
The mid-stage study's peer-reviewed data, which evaluated 411 adults with type 2 diabetes who received either the drug or a placebo, was published this week in JAMA network.
A study showed that a 120-milligram dose of danuglipron resulted in an average weight loss of about 4.6 kilogrammes, or about 10 pounds, after 16 weeks.
The weight loss with danuglipron is of a similar magnitude to that observed in the mid-stage data for Novo Nordisk's semaglutide, known as Ozempic when used for diabetes and Wegovy for obesity.
Ozempic was first approved in 2017 for diabetes and Wegovy for weight loss in the US in 2021.
The treatments, including Pfizer's danuglipron, belong to a class of drugs that mimic the gut hormone glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1), which works by suppressing appetite and were initially developed to treat type 2 diabetes.
Pfizer is also testing another oral diabetes drug, lotiglipron, which is given once daily and has said it plans to initiate late-stage development of only one of the two candidates. The company believes an oral therapy could appeal to patients who want to avoid injections.
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