On November 26th, Caixin Media (edited by Niu Zhanlin) local time on Tuesday, the US pharmaceutical company Amgen announced that its experimental obesity treatment drug MariTide could help obese patients lose an average of up to 20% of their weight after one year of use, however, this result did not satisfy the market.

It is reported that this injectable drug named MariTide can also help obese patients and those with type 2 diabetes lose up to 17% of their weight after one year. More optimistically, no plateau was observed in both patient groups, meaning that weight could further decrease after 52 weeks.

However, prior to the data release, several Wall Street analysts indicated that they expected MariTide to achieve at least a 20% weight loss in phase II trials, with some hoping for up to 25% weight loss. Therefore, the stock price experienced a significant drop due to the data being below Wall Street's expectations.

With the participation of multiple pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies, competition in the obesity field will be very fierce. Wall Street has also been eagerly awaiting amgen's phase II trial results, hoping that MariTide can compete with well-known GLP-1 drugs such as Zepbound and Wegovy.

Amgen claims that MariTide can help with faster weight loss, possibly better weight maintenance, and requires fewer weekly injections compared to novo-nordisk a/s's Wegovy and eli lilly and co's Zepbound.

Post-marketing studies of Wegovy indicate that it resulted in a 15% weight loss in 68 weeks, while Zepbound helped patients lose more than 22% of their weight in 72 weeks.

This series of advantages means that amgen could also take a share of the weight loss drug market, and some analysts predict that by the early 2030s, the weight loss drug market could reach 150 billion USD.

Compared to existing drugs on the market, MariTide offers a new weight loss method, which is a so-called antibody-drug conjugate, a molecule more commonly used for targeted cancer treatment.

Part of the drug is an antibody that blocks the GIP receptor; the other part consists of two peptides that mimic an intestinal hormone called GLP-1. The antibody component of the drug allows it to remain in the body longer than the injections from novo-nordisk a/s or eli lilly and co for weight loss.

Due to positive expectations from mid-term trial data, Amgen's stock price has surged this year. However, in recent weeks, this rally has lost momentum after an analyst raised concerns about the potential side effects of MariTide on bone density.

Amgen's Chief Scientific Officer, Jay Bradner, stated in an interview earlier this month that the company would use the results from the first part to 'refine' the design of its later-stage research, which is already 'deeply planned'.