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Pfizer Monday said it would stop development its experimental obesity and diabetes drug, lotigranonedue to elevated liver enzymes in patients taking the drug once daily in an interim clinical study.
Those ones elevated enzymes It usually indicates damage to liver cells, but the pharmaceutical giant said no patients experienced liver-related symptoms or side effects.
Pfizer shares were down about 3.5 percent in premarket trading following the news.
New York-based Pfizer said it will focus on another oral obesity drug, danuglipron, which is in a fully enrolled Phase 2 trial.
According to results released by Pfizer last month, the study found that people with type 2 diabetes who took high doses of Danuglipron twice a day for 16 weeks lost weight.
The company expects to finalize plans for a Phase 3 clinical trial of danuglipron by the end of 2023. Pfizer added that it is also developing a version of danuglipron that patients take once a day instead of twice.
“We look forward to analyzing the Phase 2 results of danuglipron and selecting a dose and titration regimen to maximize efficacy, safety and tolerability,” William Sessa, Pfizer’s chief scientific officer for internal medicine, said in a release.
Lotiglipron, danuglipron and Novo NordiskThe blockbuster weight-loss injections Ozempic and Wegovy belong to a class of drugs called glucagon-like peptide-1 agonists.
They mimic a hormone produced in the gut called GLP-1, which signals the brain when a person is full.
These drugs can also help people manage type 2 diabetes because they stimulate the pancreas to release insulin, which lowers blood sugar levels.
Oral medications such as Pfizer’s danuglipron may offer advantages over frequent injections.Novo Nordisk and Eli Lilly It is also developing its own experimental obesity and diabetes drugs.
New weight-loss drugs have sparked public interest and sparked a gold rush in the weight-loss industry. But uncertainty remains about their availability, and there are questions about how long patients need to take the drugs to lose unwanted weight.
Some people who stop taking their medication complain of regaining and unmanageable weight.
According to statistics, more than two in five adults are obese National Institutes of Health. About one in ten adults is severely obese.