{"id":81593,"date":"2026-06-11T15:02:57","date_gmt":"2026-06-11T15:02:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/81593\/"},"modified":"2026-06-11T15:02:57","modified_gmt":"2026-06-11T15:02:57","slug":"roches-obesity-ambition-not-reliant-on-one-megablockbuster","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/81593\/","title":{"rendered":"Roche’s obesity ambition not reliant on one megablockbuster"},"content":{"rendered":"

When Roche unveiled its long-awaited obesity strategy<\/a> yesterday, it included a bold goal of becoming one of the \u201ctop three\u201d companies operating in the weight loss space.<\/p>\n

But, while current obesity leaders Eli Lilly and Novo Nordisk both dominated the market with a single blockbuster asset\u2014in the form of Mounjaro and Wegovy, respectively\u2014Roche\u2019s head of metabolic product development told Fierce Biotech that the Swiss pharma is taking a different approach.<\/p>\n

\u201cI don’t buy into this idea that you need to have this one megablockbuster that will make you [an obesity leader],\u201d said Manu Chakravarthy, M.D., Ph.D., global head of cardiovascular, renal and metabolism product development at Roche.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn fact, I would submit that if you only had that, you would be severely handicapped in addressing the complexity and the heterogeneity of what we know the obesity market is,\u201d he said in an interview.<\/p>\n

Roche\u2019s strategy includes an aim of taking the dual GLP-1\/GIP receptor CT-388 to market by\u00a02030. The asset\u2014which was acquired as part of the $2.7 billion buyout of Carmot Therapeutics\u2014is due to enter a phase 3 study in the first half of next year.<\/p>\n

Speaking to Fierce after his own presentation at Roche\u2019s Pharma Day yesterday, Chakravarthy said the company is currently working \u201con full cylinders\u201d to get the phase 3 trial launched on schedule.<\/p>\n

When asked by Fierce whether getting a phase-2-stage obesity drug to market within five years is too ambitious, Chakravarthy pointed to ways the company is continuing to \u201cbuild our core capabilities.\u201d This included on the manufacturing side, where the pharma\u00a0recently broke ground<\/a>\u00a0on a $700 million plant in North Carolina that will be charged with, among other things, performing fill-finish duties for the company’s injectable obesity drugs.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf we didn’t have any of those kinds of pieces yet then I think, yes, I would be very concerned that we would not be able to move into 2030,\u201d he explained. \u201cBut we have those things now, and those investments that have already been made is what gives us the confidence that we’re on the path towards getting there.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cNow \u2026 being somewhat of a competitive guy, I would love for it to be moved a little bit earlier than 2030,\u201d Chakravarthy added. \u201cWe have to have the ambition, but we also want to be realistic.\u201d<\/p>\n

The pharma will likely \u201crefine the guidance on the timelines\u201d for CT-388 next year when the phase 3 trial kicks off, he said.<\/p>\n

Roche also has another Carmot asset in phase 2 studies in the form of an oral GLP-1 dubbed CT-996. Then there\u2019s petrelintide, Zealand Pharma\u2019s long-acting amylin analog that Roche is partnering on.<\/p>\n

Finally, the company used its presentation to highlight emugrobart, an anti-latent myostatin sweeping antibody that is designed to increase muscle mass. Emugrobart has its origins at Roche\u2019s Chugai subsidiary and is currently being studied in a phase 2 study in combination with Lilly\u2019s Mounjaro.<\/p>\n

Headlining the company\u2019s Pharma Day in London on Monday, Roche Pharma CEO Teresa Graham boasted of having \u201cone of the broadest obesity portfolios out there.\u201d<\/p>\n

Chakravarthy backed up this claim, pointing out that the company\u2019s own patient and market research had confirmed the need for a varied offering.<\/p>\n

For example, the combination of CT-388 and petrelintide could help patients who haven\u2019t reached a suitable level of weight loss on a single treatment, he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cThen there are people who just are not tolerating a certain class of medicines,\u201d Chakravarthy added. \u201cWhether it’s 388 or petre[lintide], you need optionality in your portfolio to give people other things.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf you don’t have optionality \u2026 they’ll go to somebody else,\u201d he explained. \u201cWe want everybody who is going to be treated on the obesity pathway to be on Roche products.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Swiss pharma also has ambitions when it comes to the comorbidities of obesity. This is where the phase 3-stage fatty liver disease drug pegozafermin, acquired as part of the buyout of 89bio<\/a> last week, comes into play.<\/p>\n

Chakravarthy even suggested that one day the company \u201cmay think about\u201d how Roche\u2019s investigational Alzheimer\u2019s disease drug trontinemab could play a role in its broader obesity offering. Obesity is considered a risk factor<\/a> for dementia.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat’s a dream right now, but, you know, that could happen,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

In the near term, Roche has a raft of phase 2 readouts coming next year that will bring the company\u2019s lofty obesity ambitions back to Earth. They include a pair of studies for petrelintide as well as readouts for CT-388 and CT-996.<\/p>\n

On top of this, Chakravarthy expects phase 2 data to show whether the emugrobart-Mounjaro combo affects \u201cweight loss and the preservation of lean mass.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cSo it\u2019s going to be a busy 2026,\u201d he said. \u201cAnd while we’re getting all of that, we’re also planning on initiating some key studies.\u201d<\/p>\n

At the same time Roche was fleshing out this obesity timeline yesterday, Pfizer was redoubling its own efforts in the weight loss space by announcing the $4.9 billion acquisition of Metsera<\/a>\u00a0for its clinical-stage incretin and amylin programs.<\/p>\n

So, can we expect Roche to also make another major M&A play in the obesity space?<\/p>\n

\u201cIt would be remiss of me to say we are not going to follow the science, because this is an ever-evolving, ever-changing landscape, right?\u201d Chakravarthy said. \u201cWe will constantly be looking to make sure that we are bolstering our pipeline to be as competitive as possible.\u201d<\/p>\n

When pushed by Fierce on what sort of obesity asset is most likely to attract Roche\u2019s attention, Chakravarthy suggested a \u201cweight maintenance\u201d drug.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe’ve done a very good job as an industry to drive weight down,\u201d he explained. \u201cBut I think the bigger challenge for us right now is: How do you keep people who have lost the weight and maintain that weight loss over a long, sustainable period of time?\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"When Roche unveiled its long-awaited obesity strategy yesterday, it included a bold goal of becoming one of the…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":81594,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[124],"tags":[1115,9275,26551,3343,1813,750,134,2050,1904],"class_list":["post-81593","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-roche","tag-biotech","tag-fierce-biotech-homepage","tag-glp-1","tag-mergers-and-acquisitions","tag-obesity","tag-pipeline","tag-roche","tag-teresa-graham","tag-weight-loss"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@ch\/116732087867114768","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/81593","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=81593"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/81593\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/81594"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=81593"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=81593"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=81593"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}