On Wednesday, shares of Eli Lilly (LLY.US) and Novo Nordisk (NVO.US) fell in premarket trading, after Roche (RHHBY.US) said its oral GLP-1 receptor agonist CT-996 lost about 6% of body weight on average over four weeks in a phase 1 trial.
Eli Lilly and Novo Nordisk dominate the weight-loss drug market with their GLP-1 injectors, Saxenda and Simec, while Roche’s positive trial data has raised the prospect of increased competition, with both Eli Lilly and Novo Nordisk announcing their own GLP-1 injectors in recent months.
As of the time of writing, both Eli Lilly and Novo Nordisk were down about 3% in premarket trading, while Roche’s shares were up more than 7%.
“We are excited to see that patients receiving oral GLP-1 therapy CT-996 have achieved clinically meaningful weight loss, which may ultimately help patients address both long-term weight management and glucose control,” said Levi Garraway, Roche’s chief medical officer.
The finding was based on top-line data from a multi-arm placebo-controlled trial in which 25 obese but nondiabetic participants were treated with different doses of CT-996 in three groups in the second part of the trial.
The Swiss drugmaker said the drug was well tolerated, with no patients stopping the study drug based on safety data.
The safety profile was similar to other GLP-1 drugs, with most adverse events being mild or moderate and related to gastrointestinal.
Based on the current data, Roche said it would take CT-996 into the mid-stage development.