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Pfizer’s Mixed Readout Places Doubt On Oral GLP-1 For Obesity

 
• By Joseph Haas

Twice-daily danuglipron reduced weight in a Phase IIb trial but with a poor side-effect profile and high discontinuation rates. Pfizer is working on a once-daily formulation it hopes will offer better tolerability.

Pfizer sign
Pfizer puts hopes for oral GLP-1 agonist on daily formulation work

The bad news clearly outweighed the good from Pfizer Inc.’s Phase IIb trial of its twice-daily, oral GLP-1 agonist danuglipron for obesity on 1 December, as the pharma said it would not advance the drug into Phase III in its current formulation. Pfizer still is holding out hope for a once-daily formulation it is developing, however, pointing to a pharmacokinetic data readout it expects during the first half of 2024.

Key Takeaways

  • Pfizer’s oral GLP-1 agonist danuglipron met statistical significance for weight loss in a Phase IIb study, but with a grim tolerability profile.

  • The company said it will not move the twice-daily formulation tested in Phase IIb into Phase III, but holds out hope for developing a once-daily version with better tolerability

Danuglipron is Pfizer’s best hope for now at competing in the burgeoning obesity space, where Novo Nordisk A/S and Eli Lilly and Company are vying with their injectable therapies initially approved to treat type 2 diabetes – Ozempic/Wegovy (semaglutide) and Mounjaro/Zepbound (tirzepatide), respectively

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