Metabolic Disorders

Positive clinical outcomes for Hengrui and Innovent/Lilly’s obesity candidates presented at ADA were based on trials that enrolled Chinese subjects and were characterized by fewer women and less severe obesity than similar Western studies. Even so, some of the data appear to stack up well against western rival drugs.

A new muscle-building front is opening in the fight against obesity, with Lilly among the leaders. But it plans to remain tight-lipped on upcoming Phase II data for its myostatin inhibitor in combination with Novo’s Wegovy for fear of playing into the hands of its rival.

The Danish drugmaker is investing over $4.1bn on a second facility in North Carolina for its GLP-1 therapies but has abandoned plans to build a new plant in Dublin, Ireland.

Lilly’s incretin looks set to add obstructive sleep apnea to its label – an indication in which Novo Nordisk has so far shown no interest.

VX-880 is the first iteration of a cell therapy strategy which Vertex believes can bring curative treatment for Type 1 diabetes, but competition in this field is building.

In this week's podcast edition of Five Must-Know Things: the outlook for 2025 launches; Merck confident in new pneumococcal vaccine; multiple US setbacks for Japanese firms; Stock Watch on Moderna missteps; and Sun’s North America head talks plans and strategy.

2030 sales forecasts for Novo’s obesity hope are an order of magnitude larger than its closest rival among 2025’s expected debutantes.

In this week's podcast edition of Five Must-Know Things: Boehringer best in MASH?; biopharma funding on an upswing?; Moderna’s combo jab; clinical trial recover from pandemic; and Astellas’s US commercial head speaks. 

The company is on a roll thanks to its challenge to Pfizer’s Padcev and competition with a potential obesity market gamechanger from Novo Nordisk.

Deal Snapshot: Pfizer will collaborate with the Flagship Pioneering-backed startup under a broader long-term partnership between the big pharma and venture capital firm.

The company formed around technology from the labs of MIT’s Robert Langer and Giovanni Traverso and already has a lead asset in the clinic.

The company will take on Novo Nordisk in reviving the CB1 inhibitor mechanism to develop a more tolerable long-term weight loss drug, after exiting ophthalmology.