AT A GLANCE
- The Guardian newspaper reports ‘…Much of the NHS does not take obesity seriously enough.’
- Reuters on only ‘…one in four U.S. patients prescribed Novo Nordisk’s Wegovy or Ozempic for weight loss were still taking the popular medications two years later.’
- Vivani Medical plans to launch an investigational six-month program for its GLP-1 implant NPM-115.
- Rani Therapeutics, announces commercialization of RT-114, an oral RaniPill capsule containing ProGen’s PG-102, a GLP-1/GLP-2 dual agonist.
- Pfizer advances development of once-daily formulation of oral GLP-1 receptor agonist danuglipron.
- The U.K.’s Dailly Telegraph newspaper reports on an Oxford study on how’…Ozempic could cut the risk of dementia by half.’
- JAMA Internal Medicine on 40,000 patients taking GLP-1 drug semaglutide or tirzetapide; those on tirzetapide had a three times greater likelihood to lose greater than 15% total body weight.
NEWS
- The UK election stampede of a new Labour government last week is accompanied a miserable state of the National Health Service; waiting lists for elective procedures, emergency department overcrowding, and a lack of nursing staff are rampant, fueled by chronic under funding of the service.
- In addition,The Guardian newspaper reports ‘…Much of the NHS does not take obesity seriously enough, with 37 of 42 of England’s integrated care boards not identifying obesity as a key issue in their forward plans, over the next five years.
- Professor Frank Joseph, a diabetes specialist at the Countess of Chester hospital, called the findings alarming, saying ‘…The lack of priority is sadly inexplicable.’
- I look forward to my longtime mentor and advisor, and past Labour Health Minister, Lord Ara Darzi’s commissioned review of the NHS, to advance a plan over the next ten years.
- Reuters on only ‘…one in four U.S. patients prescribed Novo Nordisk’s Wegovy or Ozempic for weight loss were still taking the popular medications two years later.’
- The analysis sadly does not provide reasons why people quit, though is likely from supply issues, costs, insurance coverage, side effects, and lack of efficacy.
- We also know this is not just a problem for GLP-1 meds; the adherence rates for oral chemotherapy drugs can range between 30% to 50%.
- I was shocked when I first learnt of this figure.
- Vivani Medical plans to launch an investigational six-month program for its GLP-1 implant NPM-115, for chronic weight management, in Australia.
- The company utilizes a NanoPortal implant technology to steadily deliver medication over extended periods of time.
- Adam Mendelsohn, Vivani president and CEO said ‘…our company announced that we were re-prioritizing the development of our GLP-1 implants to focus on the treatment of obesity and chronic weight management in response to the significant medical need and unprecedented market demand.’
- Rani Therapeutics, a clinical-stage biotherapeutics company focused on the oral delivery of biologics and drugs, announced an agreement with ProGen, a South Korean clinical-stage biotech company developing next generation long-acting, multi-specific fusion protein therapeutics, for the co-development and commercialization of RT-114, an oral RaniPill capsule containing ProGen’s PG-102, a GLP-1/GLP-2 dual agonist, for the treatment of obesity.
- RT-114 is planned to be a convenient, weekly oral dose – quite a game-changer.
- Pfizer advances development of once-daily formulation of oral GLP-1 receptor agonist danuglipron, based on results from the ongoing pharmacokinetic study NCT06153758.
- Mikael Dolsten, Chief Scientific Officer & President at Pfizer stated ‘…Obesity is a key therapeutic area for Pfizer, and the company has a robust pipeline of three clinical and several pre-clinical candidates. The most advanced of them, danuglipron, has demonstrated good efficacy in a twice-daily formulation, and we believe a once-daily formulation has the potential to have a competitive profile in the oral GLP-1 space.’
- Pfizer CEO Albert Bourla, said danuglipron was two years behind Lilly’s oral candidate and two years ahead of AstraZeneca’s program, followed by a 3% rise in share price.
OPINION
- The U.K.’s Dailly Telegraph newspaper reports on an Oxford study on how’…Ozempic could cut the risk of dementia by half.’
- The research reviewed electronic health records on over 100,000 patients, with a 48% decline in dementia when compared to Merck’s type 2 diabetes drug Januvia, or sitagliptin.
- Meanwhile, Novo Nordisk is conducting two phase 3 studies, EVOKE and EVOKE+, investigating semaglutide in 1,800 patients with early Alzheimer’s disease, expected to report out in 2026.
DATA
- JAMA Internal Medicine authors reviewed over forty thousand patients taking GLP-1 drug semaglutide or tirzetapide; those on tirzetapide had a three times greater likelihood to lose greater than 15% total body weight, with similar rates of GI side effects.
- More specifically, weight loss of 15% or higher was achieved by 42.3% of the tirzepatide group versu 18.1% of the semaglutide group.
- Eli Lilly drug tirzetapide has a dual form of action involving GIP or gastric inhibitory polypeptide, in addition to GLP-1 effects.
- This is not a controlled trial, rather data came from an electronic health records database, and so is not definitive.
- Surprisingly, over half the patients on either drug had discontinued their treatment within the twelve-month study period.
- Whilst the data is valid from a real-world imperative, we keenly await reporting on SURMOUNT-5, an Eli Lilly funded phase 3b study is to evaluate the efficacy and safety of tirzepatide compared with semaglutide, due to complete in November 2024, that is likely to be more conclusive.
ADDITIONAL TOPICS
