Pfizer plans to tap lucrative weight-loss market with new pill

It is unclear if Pfizer's Irish operations will have any role in the production of the pill. Picture: Dan Linehan

Pfizer is moving forward with a weight-loss pill as the drugmaker seeks to crack the multibillion-dollar market for obesity medications and mount a comeback from its post-pandemic malaise.

The once-daily treatment, called danuglipron, will progress to a mid-stage study in the second half of this year, Pfizer said, having cleared a scientific hurdle in a small study. 

The next trial will be designed to find an ideal dose of the pill, Pfizer said, and the drug will move into the final stage of development if it succeeds.

Pfizer shares rose nearly 3% before paring back in early trading in New York.

The pill is designed as a needle-free alternative to popular weight-loss shots from Novo Nordisk and Eli Lilly. Pfizer has said it expects pills to eventually capture about a third of the obesity drug market, which analysts have predicted will grow to about $130bn (€119bn) by the end of the decade. 

The pill is designed to mimic the effects of Novo’s blockbuster injectable semaglutide, sold as Wegovy and Ozempic.

Pfizer has struggled to make headway in treating obesity. Late last year, the company halted development of a twice-daily version of danuglipron after high rates of nausea and vomiting led patients to drop out of a mid-stage study of about 1,400 people. 

Months earlier, it abandoned another oral obesity drug that showed concerning liver effects in a trial.

The company is years behind Novo and Lilly, whose weekly Zepbound shot is poised for blockbuster sales after gaining US approval last year. Lilly also has an oral obesity treatment in the final stage of development. 

If the pill is successful it could ease some of the pressure on Pfizer chief executive Albert Bourla, who has struggled to persuade investors that the company’s pipeline of medicines can eventually arrest its post-pandemic decline.

- Bloomberg