What You Should Know About Weight Loss Drugs (If You Work In Pharma or Biotech)
Antiverse Newsletter August 2024
In this month's newsletter, we:
Explain how obesity drugs have pushed Novo Nordisk and Eli Lilly to the top of the global pharmaceutical rankings.
Highlight our most recent Future of Drug Discovery podcast episode.
List all the important events in antibody discovery from the last month.
Let's dive in!
What you should know about weight loss drugs
From the title, you may think this piece is about fitness or cosmetics, but this is not the case.
Over the last 3 years, there has been a fascinating chain of developments putting obesity drugs on a path to reach a staggering $105 billion market value by 2030. This growth is being fueled by rising cases of obesity across the globe. New drugs from pharmaceutical companies, including Novo Nordisk and Eli Lilly, are also pushing this remarkable growth. The demands for their weight loss drugs have been so high that both Novo and Lilly have released statements addressing their struggles to meet patient demands. Obesity and diabetes drugs are now on track to become the best-selling drugs ever.
Because of the scale of this growth, we feel it is important for anyone working in pharma and therapeutic biotech to know what is currently happening in this arm of the pharmaceutical industry.
So, here is our summary of weight loss drugs:
Glucagon-like peptide (GLP-1) is a hormone secreted by the intestines that helps to reduce blood sugar levels. It does this by increasing the levels of insulin and decreasing the levels of glucagon.
In 1990, researchers discovered exendin-4, a GLP-1-like venom made by the Glia monster, a lizard native to Mexico and Southwest America. Prey unfortunate enough to be bitten by the Glia monster receive a hefty dose of exendin-4, causing their blood sugar levels to plummet, making them tired and easier to hunt.
Exendin-4 is more resistant to enzyme breakdown than human GLP-1. Therefore, it has a longer-lasting ability to reduce blood sugar levels, making it a potent venom. Eli Lilly recognised that a synthetic version of exendin-4 could help treat patients with diabetes, helping to regulate their blood sugar levels throughout the day. In collaboration with Amylin Pharmaceuticals, they released Byetta, a diabetes drug, in 2005. Following similar trends in many other 'blockbuster' drugs throughout history, companies looked to capture a portion of the growing market, leading to many companies developing their own versions of the drug.
Novo Nordisk released their version of the exendin-4 mimic, 'Ozempic', in 2017. It instantly became a massive success. It had longer-lasting efficacy and required fewer doses than other drugs on the market.
Healthcare professionals began to recognise the significant weight loss side effects in Ozempic patients. They started to recommend the drug to patients seeking to lose weight. A private market opened as patients bought into the dramatic 15-20% reduction in body weight seen after just a couple of months of taking the drug.
Almost 16 years after Byetta was released, Novo Nordisk, likely inspired by the success of Ozempic, believed that the weight loss side effect could be used to treat obesity. They released 'Wegovy', a repurposed version of Ozempic, in 2021, the first drug of its kind.
Like Ozempic, Wegovy saw instant success, with many patients now able to access the drug through Medicare for obesity. Novo Nordisk shares surged. Hundreds of thousands of obese patients across the United States were using Wegovy for weight loss. However, Novo severely underestimated the demand, releasing a statement to warn prospective patients that supplies were low.
In December 2023, Eli Lilly released a weight loss drug, 'Zepbound'. Like Novo, the drug's sales surged, taking advantage of Novo's underestimation of supply demands. However, just months after its release, it also experienced widespread shortages. With over half of the world's population predicted to be obese or overweight by 2035, according to the World Obesity Federation, it is no surprise that these drugs have seen extremely high demand. From this success, Lilly and Novo are the two leading global pharmaceutical companies (by market capitalisation).
Companies including Amgen, Roche, and AstraZeneca, have swiftly followed in developing their own obesity treatments, aiming to reduce the inconvenience of administrating an injection once per week. They also plan to address the adverse side effects of current drugs on the market, mainly nausea and vomiting. Which company will join the Lilly-Novo weight loss duopoly is yet to be discovered.
Achieve your biologics discovery goals for challenging drug targets. Contact us today.
Future of Drug Discovery Podcast
Check out this chat between Murat Tunaboylu, our Co-Founder and CEO, and Paul Essery from The Tech Business Podcast.
You could learn:
The CEO journey and how Antiverse was founded.
How artificial intelligence is solving challenging targets in antibody discovery.
Successes and challenges of being a biotech founder (+advice for aspiring entrepreneurs).
It is also available on Spotify and all other podcasting platforms.
This Month In Antibody Discovery
Bristol Myers Squibb terminates $1.5B bispecific antibody programme with Agenus in strategic realignment.
Aug 2nd: Bristol Myers Squibb is returning the rights to Agenus for its TIGIT bispecific antibody program, AGEN1777, and terminating their 2021 licensing agreement as part of a broader pipeline realignment. Despite receiving significant milestone payments, Agenus now plans to explore further development or relicensing of AGEN1777, although TIGIT antibodies have faced clinical challenges in recent trials.
Merck enters co-development with Daiichi Sankyo for tri-specific T-cell engager for lung cancers.
Aug 6th: Merck & Co. secured $170 million from Daiichi Sankyo to co-develop MK-6070, a T-cell engager targeting small cell lung cancer, recouping part of its $650 million Harpoon Therapeutics acquisition. The deal enhances Merck's efforts in SCLC by combining MK-6070 with Daiichi's ADC for potential treatment advancements.
Exscientia merges with Recursion, with 10 clinical results expected over the next 18 months.
Aug 8th: Recursion has announced a merger with Exscientia, combining their strengths to enhance drug discovery and potentially achieve around 10 clinical trial readouts in the next 18 months. The merger aims to create a powerful technology-enabled platform for more efficient development of high-quality medicines.
Merck & Co. secures global rights to Curon Biopharmaceutical's blood cancer bi-specific antibody in a $700M deal.
Aug 9th: Merck & Co. is paying $700 million upfront for global rights to Curon Biopharmaceutical's CD3xCD19 bispecific antibody, CN201, positioning itself against Amgen and AstraZeneca in oncology. The deal also includes up to $600 million in milestone payments, with Merck planning to explore CN201's potential in cancer and autoimmune diseases.
Link:
Merck & Co. adjusts its oncology pipeline in ADC switch with Kelun Biotech in a $37.5M deal.
Aug 20th: Merck & Co. has paid $37.5 million to exercise its option on Kelun Biotech's bispecific ADC candidate, SKB571, targeting solid tumors like lung and gastrointestinal cancers, while returning the rights to another asset, SKB315, a CLDN18.2-directed ADC. Kelun retains rights to SKB571 in China, Hong Kong, and Macau, and plans to pursue SKB315's development in gastric cancer within China, where it sees significant market potential.
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Regeneron's linvoseltamab, a blood cancer bispecific, is delayed by the FDA over a manufacturing problem.
Aug 21st: The FDA has denied Regeneron’s application for linvoseltamab, a bispecific antibody for relapsed or refractory multiple myeloma, citing manufacturing issues at a third-party fill/finish site as the sole reason for the rejection. Regeneron, which has already addressed the FDA's concerns, is awaiting reinspection of the facility and remains confident in linvoseltamab's efficacy and safety data, supported by strong results from the Phase I/II LINKER-MM1 trial showing a 71% objective response rate.
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Merck & Co. adjusts its oncology pipeline in ADC switch with Kelun Biotech in a $37.5M deal.
Aug 20th: Eli Lilly has expanded its partnership with Oblique Therapeutics to leverage the AbiProt platform for discovering highly specific antibodies, adding a second target to their existing alliance. The collaboration, which could lead to milestone payments and royalties, aims to address unmet medical needs in areas like pain management and oncology.
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Eli Lilly adds a second target to partnership with Oblique Therapeutics.
Aug 22nd: Eli Lilly has expanded its partnership with Oblique Therapeutics to leverage the AbiProt platform for discovering highly specific antibodies, adding a second target to their existing alliance. The collaboration, which could lead to milestone payments and royalties, aims to address unmet medical needs in areas like pain management and oncology.
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About Antiverse
Antiverse is an artificial intelligence-driven techbio company that specialises in antibody design against challenging targets, including G-protein coupled receptors (GPCRs) and ion channels. Headquartered in Cardiff, UK and with offices in Boston, MA, Antiverse combines state-of-the-art machine learning techniques and advanced cell line engineering to develop de novo antibody therapeutics. With a main focus on establishing long-term partnerships, Antiverse has collaborated with three top global pharmaceutical companies. In addition, they are developing a strong internal pipeline of antibodies against several challenging drug targets across various indications. For more information, please visit:
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