STAT+: Wegovy is usually taken indefinitely. Amgen wants a version that can be tapered down
The new obesity drugs are effective but expensive and usually need to be taken for life. One company is trying to "get closer to one and done."
Amgen is trying a unique strategy with its obesity drug candidate: testing whether it can wean patients toward lower or less frequent doses over time.
Very early data hints that Amgen’s candidate, called MariTide, may provide longer-lasting weight loss than highly popular obesity drugs on the market like Novo Nordisk’s Wegovy and Eli Lilly’s Zepbound. Amgen is already seeing if that means its drug could also be dosed differently from Novo and Lilly’s products, which are costly and expected to be taken consistently for life.
In an ongoing Phase 2 trial, Amgen’s researchers will first titrate participants up on MariTide, but then after some time, see if the drug can still be effective when transitioning patients to a less intensive dosing regimen, executives said in an interview.
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