: Pfizer to advance oral candidate danuglipron as treatment for obesity and diabetes toward late-stage trial and discontinue lotiglipron

Pfizer Inc. PFE said Monday it’s planning to advance its oral candidate danuglipron toward late- stage development as a treatment for obesity and type 2 diabetes, but will discontinue development of a second candidate called lotiglipron. The company has fully enrolled a Phase 2b study of danuglipron and will finalize plans for a Phase 3 trial by the end of 2023 and is also developing a once-daily modified release version of the treatment. “If successful in clinical trials and approved, danuglipron could be in a prime position to differentiate based on profile, including full receptor agonism, which we believe has the potential to translate to robust efficacy,” Pfizer’s Chief Scientific Officer William Sessa said in a statement. Results published in the Journal of the American Medical Association Network Open from the Phase 2 trial of danugliprion showed a loss of 4.17 kg of body weight after 16 weeks. Meanwhile, the decision to discontinue the development of lotiglipron was based on data from a Phase 1 study that found unusually high levels of a family of enzymes called transaminases. Pfizer stock was down 1% premarket and has fallen 25% in the year to date, while the S&P 500 SPX has gained 13%.

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