In the weight loss drug competition, Pfizer suddenly stumbled! The development of a weight loss drug was halted due to safety issues, causing a nearly 6% drop in stock prices during trading.

On Monday, June 26th, US pharmaceutical giant Pfizer announced that it would stop developing its clinical-stage obesity and diabetes drug, Lotiglipron, due to elevated transaminase levels in patients who took the drug during mid-term clinical trials. Pfizer stated that it will focus on another oral weight loss drug, Danuglipron, which is currently undergoing phase II clinical trials.

Lotiglipron is a drug developed by Pfizer for obesity and diabetes, which only needs to be taken orally once a day. However, during the mid-term clinical trial phase, patients experienced elevated transaminase levels, which usually indicates damage to liver cells and liver function. Pfizer stated that no patients experienced liver-related symptoms or side effects, nor did any patients experience liver failure or require treatment.

Pfizer's stock price fell 5.59% at one point during Monday's trading, closing down 3.68%.

Pfizer stated that it will focus on another oral weight loss drug, Danuglipron, which is currently undergoing comprehensive phase II clinical trials. According to clinical trial results released by Pfizer last month, type 2 diabetes patients who took high doses of Danuglipron twice a day for 16 weeks experienced weight loss.

Pfizer expects to finalize the phase III clinical trial plan for Danuglipron by the end of this year. Pfizer also added that it is developing a version of Danuglipron that only needs to be taken once a day instead of twice.

William Sessa, Pfizer's Chief Medical Officer, stated in a press release:

We look forward to analyzing the results of the phase II trial of Danuglipron, and selecting dosing and titration regimens to maximize efficacy, safety, and tolerability.

Pfizer CEO Albert Bourla stated that weight loss drugs could ultimately bring in $10 billion in revenue for the company each year.

Nowadays, weight loss drugs have become the new favorite of major pharmaceutical companies, with pharmaceutical giants developing new weight loss drugs one after another.

Lotiglipron, Danuglipron, and Novo Nordisk's heavyweight weight loss injections Ozempic and Wegovy belong to a class of drugs called glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1) hormones. They mimic a hormone called GLP-1 produced in the intestine, which sends a signal to the brain when a person is full. These drugs can also help people control type 2 diabetes by promoting the release of insulin from the pancreas, thereby lowering blood sugar levels.

It is widely believed that Pfizer's Danuglipron and other oral drugs may have advantages over frequent injections. Novo Nordisk and Eli Lilly are also developing their own experimental obesity and diabetes drugs. Among these oral drugs, Eli Lilly's weight loss drug under development may be more pronounced. According to a research report by Mohit Bansal, an analyst at Fuguo Bank, Pfizer's Danuglipron will face challenges in the weight loss drug market due to the strong data of Orforglipron, which is still in the trial stage of Eli Lilly.

According to the mid-term clinical trial results released by Eli Lilly last Friday, overweight or obese patients who took Orforglipron once a day lost 14.7% of their weight after 36 weeks. Eli Lilly said on Monday that the drug trial had achieved the preliminary target set.

Bansal added that doctors usually prefer once-daily pills like Orforglipron to twice-daily Danuglipron:

Based on convenience, tolerability, and weight loss, Orforglipron may be a better choice.

According to data from the US National Institutes of Health, more than two-fifths of American adults are obese, and about one-tenth of adults are severely obese. New weight loss drugs have aroused public interest, but it remains doubtful whether the public will be able to obtain these drugs easily after they are launched in the future. Moreover, people are worried about how long patients need to take these drugs to lose unnecessary weight, and there are already some people who have stopped taking the drugs complaining of rebounding weight and difficult control.

GLP-1 drugs have recently been hailed as "miracle weight loss drugs" by the market, but the European Medicines Agency (EMA) has recently poured cold water on them. In May of this year, EMA issued a drug safety risk advice. EMA has raised a safety signal for thyroid cancer for products targeting GLP-1 targets for diabetes and obesity drugs. This is one way to monitor potential adverse events of approved drugs.