From CNBC:

Wegovy, an injectable prescription weight loss medicine, is booming. Expected demand for all weight loss medications in the U.S. is projected to increase, with Goldman Sachs analysts predicting 15 million U.S. adults on obesity medications by 2030. Large-scale drugs are Pharma’s focus, but smaller players like Terns Pharmaceuticals and Viking Therapeutics aim to make their mark.

Boehringer Ingelheim, along with Danish biotech firm Zealand Pharma, is developing a weight loss drug. Their experimental drug works by targeting GLP-1 to suppress appetite, and glucagon to increase energy expenditure. A mid-stage trial found overweight or obese patients lost up to 19% of their weight after 46 weeks of treatment with the drug.

Terns Pharmaceuticals’ oral weight loss drug, which works by targeting GLP-1 in patients who are overweight or obese, will begin early-stage trial and release initial 28-day data in the second half of 2024. It is recognized that this pill will target a competitive market, but that the potential payoff could be substantial.

Small drugmakers like Viking Therapeutics and Structure Therapeutics are working on drugs that target GLP-1 and GIP, the same hormones as Eli Lilly’s weight loss and diabetes drugs. Mid-stage trial data is expected to be released on the weight loss injection in the first half of the year, and the company is also slated to release phase one trial data on an oral version of its weight loss drug.

Sanofi, whose own GLP-1 drug failed a mid-stage trial almost five years ago, is considering potential “next-generation” weight loss drugs that could have advantages over existing treatments, while Bayer might partner with other companies instead of directly creating an obesity drug.



Read more: Boehringer Ingelheim, Terns, Viking may join market