Study shows Pfizer drug has potential to lead patients to weight loss

Study shows Pfizer drug has potential to lead patients to weight loss


Danuglipron reduced blood sugar and lost an average of 10 pounds in 16 weeks; the effects are similar to those obtained by Novo Nordisk’s Ozempic

A survey published in the magazine Journal of the American Medical Association points out that patients with type 2 diabetes, participating in an interim study, lost weight after receiving a drug a diabetes developed by the pharmaceutical company pfizer, from the United States. The information comes from the Reuters news agency.

The effects of danuglipron, manufactured by Pfizer, are treated as similar to those obtained from Ozempico, a drug from Novo Nordisk, which was also developed for the treatment of diabetes, but which has also been targeted as a weight-loss alternative. According to Reuters, U.S. shares of the company rose 4.5% on the news.

Danuglipron, given twice daily, was able to lower patients’ blood sugar across all doses and, at 120 milligrams, led to an average weight loss of 4.6 kilograms over the 16 weeks of the study, according to the study. ‘experiment. . The evaluation was based on the comparison with a placebo group.

The results obtained by danuglipron are close to the data of Ozempic, of Novo Nordisk, a drug that has semaglutide as the active principle, and of Wegovy, used for obesity. Ozempic was first approved in 2017 for diabetes and Wegovy for weight loss in the US in 2021. The treatments mimic the action of the gut hormone glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1), which works to reduce appetite.

Semaglutide is a drug approved for obesity in several countries of the world at a dose of 2.4 mg/week, according to the entities. In Brazil, despite having been approved since January 2, the 2.4 mg dose is not yet on the market. Only the formulation for type 2 diabetes is currently available in the country, with a maximum dose of 1.0 mg.

According to Reuters, Pfizer is also testing another diabetes drug, lotiglipron, which is given once a day and by mouth as an alternative to injections. The drugmaker, however, said it plans to start late-stage development of only one of its two drugs that are in the testing stage.

Pfizer Inc’s diabetes drug (PFE.N) resulted in similar weight loss to Novo Nordisk’s Ozempic in an interim study testing it in patients with type 2 diabetes, according to data published in a medical journal .

Shares of Pfizer jumped about 4.5% on the news, which comes as investor interest in the weight-loss treatment market is expected to reach $100 billion by the end of the decade.

Pfizer’s danuglipron, when given twice daily, lowered blood sugar in patients at all doses and reduced body weight at the highest dose after 16 weeks compared with placebo, according to interim data released last year by US Pharmaceuticals .

Peer-reviewed data from the interim study, which looked at 411 adults with type 2 diabetes who received the drug or a placebo, were published on the JAMA Network on Monday.

Treatment with a 120-milligram dose of danuglipron led to an average weight loss of about 4.6 kg, or about 10 pounds, after 16 weeks, according to the study.

Weight loss with danuglipron is of a similar magnitude to that seen in interim data for Novo Nordisk’s semaglutide, known as Ozempic when used for diabetes and Wegovy for obesity.

Ozempic was first approved in 2017 for diabetes and Wegovy for weight loss in the US in 2021. The treatments, including Pfizer’s danuglipron, belong to a class of drugs that mimic the gut hormone glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1), which work by suppressing appetite and were initially developed for the treatment of type 2 diabetes.

Pfizer is also testing another oral diabetes drug, lotiglipron, which is given once a day, and said it plans to start late-stage development on just one of the two candidates. The company believes that an oral therapy may appeal to patients who want to avoid injections.

Source: Terra

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