A photo showing the logo of Swiss pharmaceutical giant Roche in Basel.<\/p>\n
SEBASTIEN BOZON | AFP | Getty Images<\/p>\n
Swiss pharmaceutical giant Roche<\/a> agreed to take over obesity drug developer Carmot Therapeutics for $2.7 billion, joining a list global contestants seeking to challenge the dominant makers of weight-loss drugs Novo Nordisk<\/a> and Eli Lilly<\/a>.<\/p>\n The U.S. takeover target’s most promising drug candidate, a once-a-week injection called CT-388, belongs to a class known as a dual GLP-1\/GIP receptor agonist, the same as Lilly’s Mounjaro, or Zepbound.<\/p>\n After encouraging Phase I trial results, the drug is ready to be tested on humans in the second of three trial stages, Roche added in a statement on Monday.<\/p>\n Pioneer Novo is ahead in the market with obesity drug Wegovy, a single agonist of the GLP-1 gut hormone receptor, and is scrambling to boost production amid overwhelming demand in an obesity market that analysts estimate could reach as much as $100 billion in annual revenues.<\/p>\n Roche shares opened up 1.75%, hitting a six-week high on optimism that the weight-loss market will accommodate many rivals.<\/p>\n “Competition in the fast-growing obesity and diabetes markets should heat up quickly. The markets are large enough for ‘me too’ products, particularly when offered at the right price,” Zuercher Kantonalbank analysts said in a note.<\/p>\n Roche said in its statement CT-388 could become the best in its class to treat obesity and its comorbidities.<\/p>\n Among recent deals to acquire obesity drug development projects, AstraZeneca<\/a> last month agreed to pay up to $2 billion for the rights to an experimental pill from China’s Eccogene.<\/p>\n New Roche CEO Thomas Schinecker has set a high deal pace since taking the helm in March to restore Roche’s drug development pipeline, which was hit by major late-stage trial setbacks in Alzheimer’s and cancer immunotherapy last year.<\/p>\n Roche in October agreed to pay an initial $7.1 billion to Roivant<\/a> and Pfizer<\/a> for rights to a new inflammatory bowel disease drug, eyeing new therapeutic fields to offset falling oncology sales.<\/p>\n On top of the upfront purchase price of $2.7 billion, the owners of unlisted Carmot will receive payments of up to $400 million if certain milestones are achieved, the Swiss drugmaker said.<\/p>\n Carmot was co-founded by long-time CEO Stig Hansen in 2008. While keeping a Carmot board seat, Hansen this year became CEO of Kimia Therapeutics, an entity that was spun out of Carmot to focus on the discovery of new metabolic diseases drugs.<\/p>\n Carmot’s current portfolio includes clinical stage gut-hormone drugs, in pill and injection form, aimed at treating obesity in patients with and without diabetes, as well as a number of programs not yet tested on humans, Roche said.<\/p>\n Carmot’s employees will join Roche’s pharmaceuticals division when the transaction officially closes, expected in the first quarter of 2024.<\/p>\n Roche will obtain access to Carmot’s current R&D portfolio including all clinical and preclinical assets.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A photo showing the logo of Swiss pharmaceutical giant Roche in Basel. 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