Competitors race to launch GLP-1 drugs amid soaring weight loss demand
Since the FDA approval of Novo Nordisk’s Wegovy as a treatment for chronic weight management in 2021, followed by the approval of Ozempic the next year, demand for GLP-1 agonist drugs has rapidly grown. So much so that both Novo Nordisk and Eli Lilly, which has two GLP-1 competitors, Mounjaro and Zepbound, have been facing supply shortages that led both big pharma and contract manufacturing organizations (CDMOs) to significantly increase their investment in manufacturing capabilities.
Big pharma, including Novo, Lilly, and Sanofi, are now competing for the rapidly growing market of GLP-1 drugs, but they may not dominate the market for much longer. Multiple companies are aiming to ride this wave by developing new GLP-1 drugs, some of which include next-generation medicines with multiple drug targets. Others, such as Antag Therapeutics in Denmark, are not going directly after GLP-1 but rather other related targets to develop first-in-class treatments for obesity.
The global market for GLP-1 receptor agonists is currently estimated to be valued at $25 billion, and that number is expected to more than double by 2031, reaching over $55 billion. These are the main contenders in the race to get approval for the next GLP-1 drugs and tap into this growing market, from the younger startups to the long-established industry players.
Metsera
Headquarters: New York, US
Founded: 2022
Metsera was publicly launched in April this year when it announced a $290 million investment round led by ARCH Venture Partners and joined by several other well-known life sciences investors. The company’s vice president of research and development, Stephen Bloom, was among the first scientists to publish research on the link between GLP-1 and appetite.
The company has a pipeline of peptide and peptide-antibody conjugate drugs for weight loss as well as other indications. All drug candidates in the pipeline are based on GLP-1 agonists, and the most advanced is currently being tested in phase 1 clinical trials.
Structure Therapeutics
Headquarters: San Francisco, US
Founded: 2019
Structure Therapeutics is a global biopharmaceutical company that focuses on the development of novel oral therapeutics to treat a wide range of chronic diseases. The company’s goal is to develop small molecule drugs with superior performance to biologics and peptides. Since its foundation, Structure Therapeutics has raised a total of $182 million.
The lead candidate in Structure Therapeutics’ pipeline is GSBR-1290, a small molecule drug that targets the GLP-1 receptor. The drug candidate is currently being evaluated in phase 2 trials as a treatment for obesity as well as cardiovascular and metabolic disease.
Eccogene
Headquarters: Shanghai, China
Founded: 2018
Eccogene is a company developing innovative therapeutic solutions for metabolic and immune-related diseases. In November last year, the
company struck a deal with AstraZeneca worth up to $1.8 billion that granted the big pharma an exclusive license to develop and commercialize its GLP-1 candidate outside of China
Eccogene’s ECC 5004, is an oral small molecule drug that targets the GLP-1 receptor. Earlier this month, the company dosed the first patient in a phase 2b clinical trial evaluating the candidate for the treatment of obesity and type 2 diabetes, which triggered a $60 million milestone payment from AstraZeneca.
Viking Therapeutics
Headquarters: San Diego, US
Founded: 2012
Viking Therapeutics develops novel therapies for metabolic and endocrine disorders, with three compounds currently being tested in clinical trials. In February this year, the company raised $550 million in a public offering following positive preliminary results from a clinical trial with its lead weight loss drug candidate.
VK27355, the company’s lead candidate, is a dual agonist of GLP-1 receptor and the gastric inhibitory polypeptide (GIP) receptor. The drug candidate recently completed a phase 2 trial evaluating its effects when delivered subcutaneously. Viking Therapeutics will soon start a phase 2 study with an oral formulation of the same drug, and will meet with the FDA before the end of the year to start planning a phase 3 trial.
Carmot Therapeutics
Headquarters: Berkeley, US
Founded: 2008
Carmot Therapeutics was founded by scientist Stig K. Hansen with the goal of commercializing research on chemotype evolution he conducted at UC Berkeley. In December 2023, Roche acquired the company for $2.7 billion, gaining ownership of three clinical-stage GLP1 drugs, CT-388, CT-996 and CT-868, which are being evaluated as treatments for obesity and diabetes.
In July this year, Roche reported positive preliminary data from a phase 1 study of CT-996, a once-daily oral GLP-1 agonist for weight loss. The results showed one of the highest rates of weight loss achieved by any oral drugs currently in development.
Zealand Pharma
Headquarters: Copenhagen, Denmark
Founded: 1998
Zealand Pharma is a Danish company focusing on the development of next-generation therapeutic peptides, with two candidates in its pipeline that target the GLP-1 receptor. In June this year, the company raised over $1 billion in a share offering, soon after reporting positive clinical results in obesity.
Zealand’s most advanced candidate is survodutide, a once-weekly dual agonist of the glucagon and GLP-1 receptors that is licensed to Boehringer Ingelheim and currently in phase 3 trials. Meanwhile, dapiglutide, a dual agonist of the GLP-1 and GLP-1 receptors, has shown preliminary efficacy in phase 2a. A third candidate, petrelintide, is being tested in phase 2 as a weight loss treatment that targets the amylin receptor instead of GLP1.
Altimmune
Headquarters: Gaithersburg, US
Founded: 1997
Altimmune is a biopharmaceutical company focusing on the development of peptide-based therapeutics for obesity and liver disease. In 2020, the company raised $115 million in a public offering to support the development of its pipeline, which back then also included an intranasal vaccine for COVID-19 that was later discontinued.
Altimmune’s lead candidate drug, pemvidutide, is a dual agonist that targets both the GLP-1 and glucagon receptors. The drug candidate has recently successfully completed a phase 2 clinical trial as a treatment for obesity, and the company will meet with the FDA next month to discuss next steps for a phase 3 study.
Amgen
Headquarters: Thousand Oaks, US
Founded: 1980
Amgen was one of the first biotechnology companies back when it was formed over 40 years ago. Today, it is one of the largest independent biotechnology companies in the world, with a vast development pipeline across multiple areas such as oncology, inflammation, cardiometabolic and rare disease.
Amgen is developing an injectable treatment for weight loss, MariTide (maridebart cafraglutide), that is currently in phase 2 trials for the treatment of obesity and diabetes. The drug candidate is an antibody-peptide conjugate that combines a GIP receptor antagonist and a GLP-1 receptor agonist. An early-stage obesity study showed that a single shot of MariTide was able to maintain its weight loss effects for three months, which, if confirmed in later clinical trials, could give the candidate a big advantage over drugs such as Wegovy and Zepbound.
Jiangsu Hengrui Pharmaceuticals
Headquarters: Lianyungang, China
Founded: 1970
Jiangsu Hengrui Pharmaceuticals is a pharmaceutical company with a large portfolio of products marketed across the world, and one of the
top 25 global pharma companies based on its pipeline size. In May this year, the company granted US-based Hercules CM Newco a license to the global rights outside of China for the development and commercialization of its GLP-1 portfolio, in a deal worth up to $6 billion.
Jiangsu’s GLP-1 pipeline included three drug candidates. The most advanced one, HRS-7535, is an oral drug targeting GLP-1 that is currently in phase 2 trials for diabetes and obesity. The second candidate, HRS9531, targets both GLP-1 and GIP and is in clinical studies in diabetes and obesity. The third one, HRS-4729, is currently in the preclinical stage.
