Race for weight-loss drugs intensifies with data on obesity pills

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Happy Friday! Buried in this week's election news was new data from drug makers vying to enter the burgeoning weight-loss drug market.

pharmaceutical giant AstraZeneca and biotechnology company Viking therapeutics were among companies that presented encouraging data about their obesity pills and other treatments at the ObesityWeek conference in San Antonio, Texas, in recent days.

Wall Street is betting that the new wave of growth in the obesity space will be driven by pills that could offer more convenience and potentially fewer side effects, which could keep patients on the drugs longer. Analysts expect the weight-loss drug market to be worth more than $100 billion by the end of the decade as more treatments emerge and help meet demand than existing injections of Nordisk and Eli Lilly They are still struggling to keep up.

This is what some of the data on the pills looked like.

People who took the highest dose of Viking's daily pill lost an average of 6.8% of their body weight after 28 days compared to those who received a placebo, according to results from an early-stage study conducted with 92 people.

That exceeded investors' expectations of a 5% to 6% weight loss compared to a placebo, William Blair analyst Andy Hsieh said in a note on Monday. That bar was set by an experimental pill from Novo Nordisk that demonstrated 5% weight loss in four weeks, he noted.

Hsieh also said Viking's pill showed a “highly benign tolerability profile,” referring to how well patients tolerated the drug. Six of nine participants who received the highest dose of the drug experienced mild nausea, while only one experienced vomiting.

This could potentially be an advantage over existing injections for obesity, which can cause gastrointestinal side effects so uncomfortable that they lead some patients to discontinue treatment.

Still, some analysts questioned whether Viking could capture a large share of the competitive weight-loss drug market, raising concerns in particular about its ability to make enough drugs as a small company.

“We're not saying it's impossible for Viking to make it, however we think it will be expensive with capital and expertise requirements beyond what Lilly and Novo currently have,” Deutsche Bank analyst James Shin said in a note on Monday.

But Hsieh said he believes Viking offers “a unique set of attractive features from a Big Pharma standpoint.” There has already been speculation about the possibility of a large pharmaceutical company purchasing Viking.

In addition to its pill, Viking is developing a weight-loss injection and other treatments.

Meanwhile, AstraZeneca said its experimental anti-obesity pill was well tolerated by patients with type 2 diabetes in an early study, as it presented data from several studies on three new treatments during the conference.

AstraZeneca, after announcing last year that it would license the once-daily pill from Chinese drugmaker Eccogene, said it believed the pill could cause fewer side effects than injectable treatments from Novo Nordisk and Eli Lilly.

Patients with diabetes lost 5.8% of their body weight during four weeks of treatment with the AstraZeneca pill.

Some analysts said it was difficult to compare the data with other weight-loss drugs since the AstraZeneca study was small and tested on diabetic patients rather than those with obesity. Still, AstraZeneca has said it believes its pill differentiates itself from other therapies in development and on the market, particularly in how well it was tolerated by patients.

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This is how Americans voted on access to abortion

Americans in 10 states voted this week on whether to enshrine or expand access to abortion, more than two years after the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade.

Abortion access was a hot topic during this year's presidential campaign, particularly among women voters. President-elect Donald Trump recently said he believes the issue should be left to the states, but he has previously expressed support for several nationwide ban proposals.

Ballots are still being counted across the country, but here's how Americans have voted on abortion, according to NBC News projections:

Arizona: Approved

Arizona voters approved Proposition 139, which establishes the right to abortion in the state before the point of fetal viability, around 24 weeks.

The measure passed with 61.2% of the vote, while 38.8% of Arizonans voted against it, according to NBC News. So far about 74% of the expected votes have been counted.

Colorado: Approved

Colorado voters approved Amendment 79, enshrining the right to abortion in the state constitution. He also lifted a ban that prevented public funds from being used to pay for abortions, meaning more Coloradans can get insurance coverage for the procedure.

Amendment 79 passed with 61.9% of the vote, according to NBC News. About 86% of the expected votes have arrived.

Florida: Not approved

Florida voters rejected Amendment 4, which would have offered a constitutional right to abortion before fetal viability or when the procedure is necessary to protect the patient's health. Currently, abortions are prohibited after six weeks of pregnancy in the state.

More than 57% of Floridians voted in favor of the amendment, according to NBC News. I needed to cross 60% to pass. About 96% of the expected votes have been counted.

Maryland: Approved

Maryland voters enshrined abortion access in the state constitution by approving the right to reproductive freedom, which includes “the ability to make and carry out decisions to prevent, continue, or terminate one's pregnancy.”

The measure was approved with 74.7% of the vote, according to NBC News. About 83% of the expected votes have arrived.

Missouri: Approved

Missouri voters approved Amendment 3, which enshrines the right to reproductive freedom in the state constitution. The amendment gives residents “the right to make and carry out decisions on all matters related to reproductive health care,” which includes abortion.

Amendment 3 passed with 51.7% of the vote, while 48.3% of the state's people voted against it, according to NBC News. About 99% of the expected votes have arrived.

Montana: Approved

Montana voters enshrined abortion access in their state constitution by establishing the right to “make and carry out decisions regarding one's pregnancy.”

The measure passed with 57.6% of the vote, while 42.4% of voters voted against it, according to NBC News. About 96% of the expected votes have been counted.

Nebraska: Mixed

Voters in Nebraska did not approve an amendment that would have expanded abortion access up to the point of fetal viability around 24 weeks, but they did approve a measure that codified existing abortion restrictions into the state constitution. Nebraska prohibits abortions after 12 weeks unless there is a medical emergency or the pregnancy is the result of sexual assault or incest.

Nearly 49% of Nebraska voters voted in favor of expanding abortion access, while 51.4% voted against it, according to NBC News. The amendment banning abortion after the first trimester was approved with 55.3% of the vote. About 94% of the expected votes have arrived.

Nevada: Approved

Nevada voters approved an amendment banning abortions after the first trimester unless medically necessary. The amendment also makes exceptions if the pregnancy is the result of incest or sexual assault.

The amendment passed with 64% of the vote, according to NBC News. So far about 92% of the expected votes have been counted.

New York: Approved

New York voters approved Proposition 1, which protects abortion access in the state constitution. The proposal says people cannot be denied rights based on their sex, including “sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression, pregnancy, pregnancy outcomes, and autonomy and health care.” reproductive”.

Nearly 62% of New York voters voted in favor of the proposal, while 38.1% voted against it, according to NBC News. About 88% of the expected votes have arrived.

South Dakota: Not approved

South Dakota voters did not approve Amendment G, which would have established the right to abortion in the state constitution. All abortions are prohibited in the state except when medically necessary to preserve the life of the patient.

More than 41% of the state's voters voted in favor of the amendment, while 58.6% of people voted against it, according to NBC News. About 99% of the expected votes have been counted.

Please feel free to send any tips, suggestions, story ideas, or information to Ashley at [email protected].