Source: Finance Association
① In a Chinese experiment, the GLP-1R/GCGR dual agonist Mashidu Peptide, jointly developed by Cinda Biotech and Eli Lilly, showed the effects of weight loss + significant improvement in fatty liver disease; ② As market competition became more intense, various diet pills also began to pay more attention to benefits other than weight loss.
There are various signs that China's diet medicine market is about to face more intense competition. For a country where half of adults are obese or overweight (note: this is official 2020 data), this may also be considered good news.
On Tuesday, Novo Nordisk confirmed that Novartis (also known as Wegovy) was approved for marketing in China, Cinda Biotech and Eli Lilly also revealed the results of the first phase III weight loss clinical trial of the GLP-1R/GCGR dual agonist Maxidopeptide. In addition to being able to compete with Novo Nordisk in weight loss, this drug also places special emphasis on improving fatty liver disease in obese people.
In terms of pharmaceutical principles, GLP-1R (glucagon-like peptide-1 receptor) can induce effects of suppressing appetite and delaying gastric emptying; GCGR (glucagon receptor) can increase energy consumption and promote fatty acid oxidation and fat breakdown, thereby improving fatty liver disease.
The effects of weight loss and liver fat are also remarkable
For Chinese shareholders, this test conducted in China is naturally more of reference significance. A total of 610 Chinese adults were enrolled in this phase III trial, requiring a BMI greater than 28, or a BMI greater than 24, and at least one weight-related complication. Comparatively speaking, in the past, Novo Nordisk and Eli Lilly tests enrolled patients were often more obese.
According to the test design, the enrolled subjects received subcutaneous injections of 4 mg and 6 mg of mastradiol peptides (once a week), respectively, according to the 1:1:1 ratio, and a placebo for a total of 48 weeks.
According to test results, the weight loss rate of the high-dose group was close to 15% after 48 weeks of continuous use, while there was almost no change in the weight of the placebo group. At the same time, the weight loss in the low-dose group was 12%. This data is quite similar to Eli Lilly's weight loss drug Zepbound (terpotide injection), which has been approved for marketing.
What has attracted more attention from the market is that Maxidopeptide has also handed over beautiful data on reducing liver fat content in obese patients.
According to the test report, among 69 subjects with liver fat content (LFC) greater than or equal to 5% at the beginning of the experiment, there was a significant correlation between liver fat content and medication use after completing the 48-week test. Among the subjects with baseline LFC ≥ 5%, liver fat content decreased by 63.3% and 73.2%, respectively, after 48 weeks of treatment. Among the subjects with more severe fatty liver disease (LFC ≥ 10%), the reduction rate of liver fat in the 6mg Maxidol peptide group reached 80.2%.
Weight loss drug competition is rapidly heating up
As simeglutide/tiverpotide compete on a global scale, this golden track, which Goldman Sachs calls the “$130 billion market in 2030,” is now becoming more and more crowded.
In addition to well-known pharmaceutical companies such as Pfizer, Amgen, and Boehringer Ingelheim, which have deployed GLP-1 diet pills, Novo Nordisk's Danish “hometown” Zealand Pharma also released phase Ib experimental data for the long-acting amylin (amylin) analogue Petrelintide last week. At the same time, as simeglutide faces doubts about the patent protection period, a number of Chinese pharmaceutical companies have also begun to lay out generic drug tracks.
Faced with a crowd of followers, the market has begun to focus on diet pills with “complex curative effects.” Eli Lilly CEO Dave Rex revealed in an interview with the media earlier this month that the company had high hopes for a drug called retatrutide (retatrutide), a triple agonist drug because it simulates three hormones that suppress appetite.
Rex revealed that retaglutide not only has a stronger weight loss effect, but also has a strong effect on types of obesity that are difficult to treat, such as visceral fat and fatty liver disease.
Novo Nordisk's next major weight loss drug is likely to be Cagrisema — a drug combining cagrilintide (cagrilintide) and semaglutide (semaglutide). Cagrillin peptide is a long-acting dual insulin analog, and the market expects the combination of these two drugs to further stimulate weight loss.
edit/lambor