AstraZeneca’s Obesity Pill Shows Positive Results in Early Trial

AstraZeneca announced that its new weight-loss medication, which was licensed from Eccogene of China, underwent early-stage testing and was found to be safe and acceptable. The news comes after the company emphasized the possibility of combo therapies to help its obesity portfolio stand out from the competition.

As is typical in the beginning stages of clinical studies, the Phase I study, which consisted of 72 people, was aimed to evaluate the pill’s safety and tolerability via the use of a controlled environment. Participants in the study were either healthy individuals with no signs of obesity or those diagnosed with type 2 diabetes.

Sharon Barr, the EVP of biopharmaceuticals research and development at AstraZeneca, stated in a media conference that the findings of the study provided the firm with the confidence to go forward with the medicine into Phase II clinical trials.

According to Barr, one of these pharmacological studies of a drug known as AZD5004 will concentrate on reducing the average body weight among those who are obese or overweight. The study is expected to be completed in late 2025.

A year ago, when AstraZeneca made the announcement that it had licensed the novel, once-daily obesity tablet from Eccogene for a potential price of up to $2 billion, the company said that it felt the medication might produce fewer adverse effects than the injectable medicines currently available, such as Wegovy from Novo Nordisk.

When the firm announced the Eccogene transaction in November 2023, AstraZeneca CEO Pascal Soriot admitted that his organization still had quite a way to go to replicate the success of Eli Lilly Novo Nordisk, who were the first to market with extremely successful obesity treatments.

In addition, Barr said that the AZD5004 tablet may be taken with or without meals and that there is no need to fast before taking it. This information was taken from a second early-stage experiment that lasted for 28 days and included 14 patients.

In the ObesityWeek meeting in Texas, AstraZeneca put the spotlight on three of its drugs in the obesity portfolio.

One of those drugs is the aforementioned AZD5004. Apart from that, there is AZD6234, also engaged in a phase 2 obesity study. The drug had a favorable tolerability record with no safety issues in a phase 1 study.

AstraZeneca is preparing for a mid-stage study of AZD6234 in conjunction with its weekly GLP-1/glucagon candidate AZD9550. The company noted that its once-weekly combination therapy aims to provide a “triple mechanism” for optimizing weight reduction while safeguarding organ health and maintaining tolerability.

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