Wegovy obesity rival to be part of a suite of weight loss drugs

Roche said Thursday that its Wegovy rival weight loss drugs will be part of a suite of medicines aimed at combatting the effects of obesity.

CEO Thomas Schinecker welcomed positive early stage trial results from the firm’s two weight loss drug candidates as showing “best in disease potential.” He added that they will form part of a wider portfolio aimed at differentiating the Swiss pharmaceutical giant from other competitors in the growing obesity medication market.

“We have a number of things in our pipeline that really can differentiate us from other players,” Schinecker told CNBC’s “Squawk Box Europe.”

“We do believe we have two next generation GLP-1/GIPs that have a best in disease potential,” he said of the obesity drugs.

GLP-1s, or glucagon-like peptide 1 agonists, are a group of drugs used to treat diabetes and obesity. They form the basis of weight loss drugs such as Novo Nordisk’s Wegovy and Eli Lilly’s Zepbound. GIP, or gastric inhibitory polypeptide, is a hormone which stimulates insulin secretion.

“We also have a number of different medicines in our own portfolio that we can combine with [obesity drugs],” he added, highlighting GYM329 as an example of a drug which counters muscle loss, a key side effect of weight loss.

He noted that the antibody medicine, which is currently in development, could be used to counter the “yo-yo effect” of weight loss, both for obesity drug users and regular dieters.

Roche is seen as somewhat of a latecomer to the weight loss market amid the runaway success of rivals Novo Nordisk and Eli Lilly. Successive trial results have pointed to the rival firms’ drugs’ efficacy in combatting not only obesity but also associated health risks, such as cardiovascular diseases.

However, early-stage trial data released last week showed that Roche’s experimental once-daily pill CT-996 resulted in a placebo-adjusted average weight loss of 6.1% within four weeks in obese patients without Type 2 diabetes in a phase one trial.

The results follow similar promising findings in May from a phase one trial of Roche’s CT-388 drug, which was found to help patients with obesity lose 18.8% of their weight after 24 weeks relative to those who received a placebo.

Both drug candidates were acquired as part of Roche’s purchase of U.S. biotech company Carmot Therapeutics, which completed in January.

Schinecker said the acquisition had helped bolster the company’s presence in one of the largest medical sectors. Analysts have estimated the obesity drug market could be worth up to $200 billion by 2030.

“We do believe that cardiovascular and obesity is probably the biggest unmet need today and there are a lot of diseases that are linked to this. In order to have a holistic approach, we believe that it’s prudent to have in our portfolio,” he said.

The CEO added that the company was “open for other acquisitions” and continues to assess opportunities that make medical and financial sense.

The comments come as Roche reported on Thursday strong sales growth in the first-half of the year and increased its full-year guidance.

Citi said in a note Wednesday that all eyes will now be on further trial data due in September.

“Investor attention will be looking forward to September, where we expect to see full phase 1 data from Roche’s early stage obesity assets CT-388 (GLP-1/GIP) and CT-996 (oral small molecule GLP-1) at EASD (9-13th), as well as Roche’s annual pharma day in London on 30th,” the analysts wrote.

EASD refers to the European Association for the Study of Diabetes, an industry event being held in Madrid, Spain in September.