(AOF) – Pfizer is expected to fall sharply in the pre-market on Wall Street after announcing that it would not move danuglipron, an oral weight loss medication, to the final phase of study in its dosage form twice daily. While the study met its primary endpoint, demonstrating “a statistically significant change in body weight,” it observed a high rate of side effects displayed during a mid-term review and high dropout rates, over 50%. The test on the once-daily formula continues.
“We believe that an improved once-daily formulation of danuglipron could play an important role in the obesity treatment paradigm, and we will focus our efforts on collecting data to understand its potential profile,” said Mikael Dolsten. , Pfizer’s Chief Scientific Officer and President of R&D.” Results from ongoing and future studies of the once-daily modified-release formulation of danuglipron will illuminate a potential path forward to improve the tolerability profile and optimize both the design and execution of the study.”
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Oncology, priority of pharmaceutical giants
Sanofi’s stock market disappointment recorded at the end of October 2023 underlines the new direction for the group, which has now set oncology as its number 1 priority. Efforts in this segment, where therapies are advancing the fastest, notably involve investments in R&D which weigh on profitability. Sanofi therefore announced a drop in its earnings per share in 2024 and the abandonment of its objective of an operating margin of 32% in 2025. Merck has just unveiled a new alliance. It will pay up to $22 billion to the Japanese group Daiichi Sankyo as part of a partnership on experimental cancer treatments. While some experts estimate that the United States represents nearly half of global oncology spending (drugs and treatments), or $196 billion in 2022, Chinese spending in this area has more than doubled in five years, going from 5 to 11.8 billion dollars.