Eli Lilly Novo Nordisk Release Data of Weight Loss Drugs

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The competition in the drug loss market is increasing, since medication manufacturers share new data on new and existing treatments.

The annual conference of the American Diabetes Association in Chicago showed results on obesity injections, pills and other therapies last weekend. Large and small companies are competing for a portion of drug space to lose weight, and for a good reason.

Some analysts estimate that the market could be worth more than $ 150 billion a year at the end of the decade. Although I did not attend the conference in person this year, I have gathered some outstanding aspects:

Eli Lilly Steal the show – Wall Street gave a sigh of relief after the company's experimental pill, Orforglipron, helped patients lose weight without serious side effects in a clinical trial in late stage.

The highest dose helped patients with type 2 diabetes to lose 7.6% of their body weight during the study of 40 weeks, without signs of liver damage in those who took daily treatment. Eli Lilly, who published initial study data in April, will present the results of a separate trial in obese or overweight patients without diabetes at the end of this year. The company plans to launch the pill next year.

The medication manufacturer also made fun of the future of his portfolio, showing treatments that “could further extend Lilly's domain in space,” said BMO BMO capitalist Markets Evan Seigerman in a note on Sunday.

Another experimental medicine of Eli Lilly, Bimagrumab, helped preserve lean muscle mass and boost a greater loss of fat in patients who take the popular treatment of obesity, of Novo Nordisk in a mid -stage trial.

The therapy seems to offer a potential solution to a problem that has arisen with existing weight loss injections. Some doctors are concerned that patients can be losing too much lean muscle mass while taking the photos, particularly older adults who may be more fragile.

Eli Lilly is now executing additional drug studies in combination with its own weight loss injection, Zepbound, Ken Custer, president of Lilly Cardiometabolic Health, told CNBC.

“We believe we can improve even more [results] In addition to the Tirzepatide, “Custer said, referring to the active ingredient in Zepbound.

Another experimental therapy of Eli Lilly also helped patients eliminate pounds with few side effects in a small study, impressing analysts. The drug, called Eloralintide, is part of a drug class that mimic amiline hormone, which slows digestion and makes people feel more full for longer.

Novo Nordisk Revolts to catch up – While Eli Lilly tries to maintain or increase its advantage in the drug market to lose weight, the main rival Novo Nordisk gave complete results of the late tests in its experimental weekly injection, Cagrisema.

Investors hammered the company's shares in December after the preliminary results of the trial showed that Cagrisema had lost their average weight loss objective of 25%, with less than half of the patients reaching that goal.

But the complete results show that patients lost a significant weight, even if they chose to keep a lower dose of treatment. The studies allowed patients to stop at lower doses if they wanted to handle side effects or if they were already losing enough weight.

The complete data at the conference also highlighted a “relatively clean security profile” for Cagrisema, Seigerman said in a separate note on Monday. The drug had side effects similar to Wagovy despite providing more weight loss.

Cagrisema is a combination of Cagrilintide, which mimics amiline, and the semaglutida, the active ingredient in Wogovy.

Novo Nordisk also published data from an early test in another experimental medicine called amicretin.

The medicine helped patients lose up to 24.3% of their weight after 36 weeks, and also showed signs of improving blood sugar levels with side effects generally in line with other medications for obesity.

The treatment mimics the same intestinal hormone that fills it with cursed to reduce appetite and regulate blood sugar, but also combines it with amiline.

Companies plan to advance both in injectable and oral versions of amicretin in late -stage tests for weight control, said Novo Nordisk in a statement.

Amgen Describe the next steps for obesity injection – As Amgen tries to make waves in the career of two companies, he must improve the results of the late stage tests in his experimental injection of monthly weight loss, Seigerman said in a separate note on Monday.

Amgen has established his plan for the weight loss market, which is based on the results he presented in two trials at the conference.

The company said that its medicine, maritid, led to significant weight loss, but high rates of side effects and discontinuations in a medium stage trial. Amgen published initial data of that test in November.

The rates of patients who suspended the drug due to the side effects were high, which vary from 10% to 29% within different groups that took it. Vomiting rates varied from 43% to 92%. The groups of patients who gradually increased the dose had lower rates of interruptions and vomiting than those who did not.

However, a smaller one -phase study showed that initial patients in lower doses of maritid and the use of a more gradual dose escalation improved how well the medication tolerated. The two groups with the lowest initial doses experienced vomiting rates of around 23% and 24%, and there were no interruptions due to side effects.

“The lower initial doses and more steps help patients,” Jay Bradner, Executive Vice President of Research and Development of Amgen told CNBC.

He added that Maritide's side effects are “short -term” and that the data reported the design of phase three of 72 weeks of Amgen on the medication. The company is using lower initial doses and three dose climbing steps for an eight -week period in those studies. For week eight, patients will reach one of the three different target doses of maritid.

“What we achieve through dose escalation is to allow the brain to tolerate the next dose step,” Bradner said, and pointed out that it is a strategy used with Wogovy and Zepbound.

But the maritid can have an advantage over those rival treatments, since it will use less steps and increase the doses for a shorter period of time, he said.

In a note on Monday, Jefferies analysts said they believe that phase three data will come in “better than expectations.” They said that the key conclusion is that the lowest and lowest dosing plan of AMGEN will significantly improve side effects and lower interruptions, and “could further increase efficacy” in the trials if patients remain in the medication and experience their complete effects.

At the end of the year, Amgen will also have data on patients who took maritide every quarter, according to Bradner.

Do not hesitate to send any advice, suggestion, stories ideas and data to Annika in [email protected].

The investments continue to arrive.

Abridge announced on Tuesday that it closed a financing round of $ 300 million led by Andreessen Horowitz, with the participation of Khosla Ventures. The round occurs only months after the startup raised another $ 250 million in new capital earlier this year.

Founded in 2018, Abridge uses artificial intelligence to write clinical notes in real time as doctors record their visits with patients. The startup is part of a market that has exploited as medical care executives seek solutions to help reduce the exhaustion of personnel and discouraging administrative workloads.

Open has now raised almost $ 818 million, according to Pitchbook, and is associated with more than 150 health systems in the United States, the company obtained a place in the CNBC 50 disruptive list this year.

“It is a privilege, ultimately, continuing to create the impact we want to continue having for doctors, patients and other members of the medical care ecosystem,” said Julia Chou, operations director of Abridge, to CNBC in an interview.

Chou said that Aberidge's new capital will help the company overcome traditional clinical notes. The startup is working to integrate the relevant information of the income cycle into its product, for example, which would help the documentation to be more compatible and relieve subsequent workflows.

Aberidge is not the only startup of documentation of AI who is thinking about the billing of medical care.

Another writing startup, Ambient Healthcare, has also been exploring applications around the management of the income cycle. The company announced a new medical coding model in May that can listen to patient meetings and identify ICD-10 codes, which are internationally standardized classifications for different diseases and conditions.

Environment has raised more than $ 100 million of investors such as Kleiner Perkins, Andreessen Horowitz and Operai's start fund, according to Pitchbook. The company is looking for new capital at an assessment of more than $ 1 billion, according to an information report.

The impulse of AI companies in turnover could help them market their products to health systems with liquidity problems such as true income drivers, and not only tools that save time.

ABRIDGE says he is just beginning.

“The AI ​​is arriving at the doctor's office,” Chou said. “The aspiration is to make your visits really feel human.”

Do not hesitate to send any advice, suggestion, stories ideas and data to Ashley at [email protected].