GLP-1 agonists

Okava Pharmaceuticals, a clinical-stage company developing medicines for cats and dogs, announced a new clinical trial testing a GLP-1 implant for cats on Tuesday. The trial is appropriately named MEOW-1 (ManagEment of Over Weight cats).  OKV-119 is Okava’s long-release GLP-1 implant, designed to slowly release the drug over six months. The implant is from Vivani…

Pfizer has filed two lawsuits against the metabolic-focused startup Metsera and Novo Nordisk as of Tuesday. The first suit, filed last Friday, claims that Novo Nordisk’s rival bid for Metsera is a move “to suppress competition,” Pfizer said in a press release.  Metsera could be a vital acquisition for either company. The company is developing…

Demand for next-generation GLP-1 drugs is fueling a boom in peptide research, prompting companies like Sai Life Sciences to expand capabilities amid a hot market for obesity and diabetes treatments. “The GLP-1 agonists have exploded the peptide field,” said Maneesh Pingle, Ph.D., executive vice president and head of discovery services at Sai Life Sciences, in…

A phase 3b open-label randomized clinical trial (SURMOUNT-5) has shown that tirzepatide leads to greater weight reduction compared to semaglutide in adults with obesity or overweight conditions. The study from Eli Lilly demonstrated a mean weight loss of 20.2% with tirzepatide (Zepbound) versus 13.7% with semaglutide (Wegovy) over a 72-week period. Last year, a pre-print…

By now, almost everyone has heard about the meteoric rise of GLP-1 drugs, like Wegovy and Mounjaro. But a perhaps under-appreciated reality is that the GLP-1 obesity drugs are poised to drive record overall prescription drug sales growth and catapult Novo Nordisk and Eli Lilly into the upper echelon of Big Pharma companies by the…

GLP-1 agonists may have turned obesity treatment upside down, becoming a viral phenomenon thanks to social media acclaim and celebrity endorsements along with their ability to support tangible weight loss results for many patients. But the skyrocketing demand for these therapies has a shadow side, leading to supply shortages, access inequities and bureaucratic hurdles that…

The latest crop of glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1) agonists, such as semaglutide and tirzepatide (technically, a dual GIP/GLP-1 receptor agonist), have upended the way we treat metabolic disorders, including obesity. These drugs mimic gut hormones, improving blood sugar control and often leading to significant weight loss. But as Kyasha Sri Ranjan, Ph.D., engagement manager at Lifescience…

 The graphic above shows darker bubbles for companies with larger market caps as of March 25, 2024. Revenue and R&D spending figures are in USD. More data are available when hovering over a given company.  After a COVID-19 rebound in public perception and willingness to explore novel modalities, the pharma industry faces mounting pressures…

In 2023, a year of accelerated regulatory success, a significant number of biotech labs sat empty in major hubs like San Francisco and Boston. The FDA approved 55 novel therapies in 2023, including Leqembi for early Alzheimer’s and Zurzuvae for postpartum depression. The approval number marked the second highest count in three decades (see graph…

In 2023, demand for GLP-1 receptor agonists such as Lilly’s tirzepatitde and Novo Nordisk’s semaglutide surged just as demand for COVID-19 therapies waned. As a result, Novo Nordisk had 33% growth at constant exchange rates over the first nine months of the year. Similarly, Lilly experienced a 37% jump in revenue in the third quarter,…