Roche’s $2.7 billion acquisition of Carmot Therapeutics delivered another success this week.
The Swiss pharma said Wednesday morning that its oral GLP-1 receptor agonist produced positive weight loss results in an early-phase study. In a Phase 1 trial, the candidate known as CT-996 achieved a mean 6.1% placebo-adjusted weight loss in four weeks in a cohort of 25 obese people without diabetes.
Drug levels in the blood were “largely unaffected” by participants’ fasting status, suggesting it could be taken “without regard to meal timing,” according to a company release. Roche also said the drug could help with weight loss maintenance after using injectable GLP-1s.
CT-996 was well-tolerated, with most adverse events being gastrointestinal in nature and mild or moderate in severity. There were no treatment discontinuations related to the drug. The full Phase 1 results will be presented at an upcoming meeting.
The company’s shares $ROG.SW were up 6% on the Swiss SIX exchange.
Roche’s oral GLP-1 asset is one of a trio of weight loss drugs it obtained as part of its acquisition of Carmot in December. The most advanced of the three is a Phase 2-ready subcutaneous GLP-1/GIP receptor agonist, dubbed CT-388, for which Roche shared additional positive Phase 1b data earlier this week.
While Roche’s oral candidate has a “competitive profile,” Jefferies analysts wrote that further details are needed, including dose level and titration details, and more information on GI side effects. Nonetheless, they said that CT-996 could reach $6 billion in global peak sales with a launch expected in 2031.
By comparison, Structure Therapeutics said last month that its oral GLP-1 candidate, GSBR-1290, achieved 6.2% weight loss at 12 weeks in a 64-participant Phase 2a test in overweight or obese people. Earlier this year, Viking Therapeutics’ oral GLP-1/GIP dual agonist, VK2735, attained up to 5.3% weight loss in healthy participants after 28 days.
Novo Nordisk said in June 2023 that the highest dose of an oral formulation of its GLP-1 agonist, semaglutide, helped overweight or obese participants lose 15% of their body weight at 68 weeks in a Phase 3 trial of more than 600 subjects, putting it on par with its injectable Wegovy. Meanwhile, Pfizer’s oral GLP-1 agonist, dubbed danuglipron, will have Phase 1b dose optimization data early next year.