Roche's top obesity drug outperforms Wegovy in Phase 2 trial

Roche's top obesity candidate helped patients lose as much as 22.5% of their body weight in a phase 2 trial, coming in on par with Eli Lilly's Zepbound and outperforming Novo Nordisk's Wegovy.

Once-weekly injections of the highest dose (24 mg) of Roche's dual GLP-1/GIP receptor agonist, picked up through the $2.7 billion acquisition of Carmot Therapeutics in 2023, produced significant weight loss at 48 weeks without plateauing, the company said.  

Notably, more than half (54%) of the trial participants taking the drug overcame obesity entirely and dropped their BMI below 30 kg/m².

The weight loss candidate, dubbed CT-388, also displayed a safety and tolerability profile similar to that of other GLP-1 drugs, according to the announcement.

These readout results help build the case to move CT-388 into late-stage testing, Roche said. The Swiss drugmaker plans to launch phase 3 studies of CT-388 this quarter.

While Roche is positioning its dual agonist as a direct competitor to Eli Lilly's best-selling drug tirzepatide, which is also a dual receptor agonist, the drug could contend with a new wave of highly effective weight-loss therapies.

CT-388 is also being tested in combination with other drugs in Roche's pipeline, including petrelintide, a mid-stage amylin analogue acquired from Zealand Pharma in a $1.65 billion deal last year.

With the global obesity drug market expected to reach $150 billion in annual sales by 2035, Roche has poured investment into its obesity and diabetes pipeline in recent years, leaning on dealmaking to build out its portfolio. But it remains to be seen how Roche's late entry into the market dominated by pharma giants Eli Lilly and Novo Nordisk will play out.

Roche is also testing six other drugs that treat obesity and related conditions, including type 2 diabetes and high blood pressure -- all with possible launches by the end of the decade.

Alivia Kaylor is a scientist and the senior site editor of Pharma Life Sciences.