American drugmaker Pfizer on Thursday announced that it would conduct studies in the second half of 2024 on a reworked, once-a-day version of its experimental obesity pill, danuglipron.
Last year, the company said it was focusing on danuglipron’s development after scrapping a separate, once-daily pill due to concerns about liver safety.
Pfizer is testing both a once-daily modified release dosing and also a twice-daily form of danuglipron, Reuters reported.
On Thursday, Pfizer said early study results supported a once-daily dosing, with no liver enzyme elevations observed in more than 1,400 healthy adult volunteers. Sales of Pfizer’s COVID-19 vaccine and pill have fallen drastically from their peak during the pandemic, putting pressure on CEO Albert Bourla to drive growth through newer drugs.
The company on Tuesday announced that chief scientific officer, Mikael Dolsten, would step down after an over 15-year stint with Pfizer.
The new drug is part of the second-generation of weight-loss pills, under development by companies including Eli Lilly and Novo Nordisk, that will offer patients a more convenient dosing instead of injections.
Some analysts expect the weight-loss drug market, currently dominated by Novo Nordisk’s Wegovy and Eli Lilly’s Zepbound, to be worth over $150 billion by the early 2030s.
According to Reuters, shares of Pfizer rose 3.7% to $29.30 in premarket trading.The shares closed at $28.35 on Wednesday, and have lost more than half of their value since hitting $61 in December 2021 due to a steep drop in sales of its COVID products and investor worries over its pipeline including lotiglipron.
