Backed by Novo Nordisk and Eli Lilly, the obesity treatment area was left relatively bereft of innovation – but now Danish biotech firm Zealand Pharma is setting its stage for innovation. End.
The company late last week reported promising data from a phase 1b study of Zealand Pharma’s potential obesity therapy, Dapiglutide, which functions as both an agonist for GLP-1 and GLP-2 receptors. The product pits the company directly against much more popular GLP-1 meds, including Novo Nordisk’s Wegovy and Eli Lilly’s Zepbound. Steensberg, however did point to one of his company’s crown jewels Petrelintide, a long-acting amylin analog would provide an alternative for patients who cannot tolerate some of the GLP-1 medications.
Amylin analogs imitate a hormone that acts in concert with insulin to increase satiety, and they differ fundamentally from GLP-1 agonists, which dampen appetite through mechanisms in the gut. As Steensberg notes, an advantage of treatments that focus on satiety is that the user experience is far more agreeable and may lead to better long-term compliance.
Zealand Pharma was also faring well, Petrelintide came back with average weight loss of about 8.6% in phase 1b. Steensberg was optimistic that amylin analogues could be used as a basis for obesity treatments and even promote health-related cardiovascular benefits besides weight loss.
Competition remains a major hurdle for Zealand Pharma, despite the rapid expansion, whose stock rose above 110% this year, and Novo Nordisk and Eli Lilly remain dominating in the fastening space of obesity conditions. U.S. and European agency GLP-1 drugs can expect regulatory approvals to rise, but endless fear lingers related to side effects.
Analysts estimate that the market for obesity treatment is likely to grow up to US$200 billion by 2030, with increasing fragmentation since firms begin targeting various patient needs. In Barclays, Emily Field pointed out that although Zealand has a promising pipeline, the firm will most likely require a strategic partner to deliver its full ambitions.
Steensberg affirmed that Zealand was actively looking for partnerships, dispelling takeover rumors, and was even more vocal in stating that it would need to collaborate if it intended to grow into the future. The company is continuing with phase 2 trials of Petrelintide and Dapiglutide for late 2024 and early 2025, respectively.
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