Eli Lilly and Novo Nordisk stocks skidded Wednesday after Roche unveiled promising early-stage results for its oral weight-loss drug.
Patients who took Roche's CT-996 lost 6.1% more of their body weight over a month than patients who took a placebo, Roche's Genentech division reported. Roche's drug belongs to the GLP-1 drug class, meaning it could eventually rival Eli Lilly's Zepbound and Novo Nordisk's Wegovy.
Levi Garraway, Roche's chief medical officer and head of global product development, said this is Roche's second positive readout in less than three months from its metabolic diseases pipeline. In May, Roche presented promising results from a once-weekly shot of another drug, CT-388.
"We are pleased to see the clinically meaningful weight loss in people treated with our oral GLP-1 therapy CT-996, which could eventually help patients address both chronic weight management and glycemic control indications," he said in a statement.
On today's stock market, Eli Lilly stock sank 3.8% to 905.59, right on its 21-day line. Shares of Novo Nordisk fell 3.9% to 135.42, below the 50-day line and a 137.22 buy point. Lilly and Novo Nordisk stock are on IBD Leaderboard.
Structure Therapeutics and Viking Therapeutics, which are also developing oral weight-loss drugs, saw shares plunge a respective 14.2% and 12.6%. Shares of Pfizer, a distant rival, rose 1.8% to 30.03.
Meanwhile, U.S. shares of Roche gapped up 7.6% to the highest levels in nearly 52 weeks.
Eli Lilly, Novo Nordisk Lead Injectable Market
Wegovy and Zepbound are the undisputed leaders of the weight-loss drugs market. They are both weekly under-the-skin — or subcutaneous — injections. But analysts say pills could eventually make a dent in the market, helping people who don't like needles.
Over four weeks, people who took Roche's CT-996 lost 7.3% of their body weight, compared to a 1.2% loss for the placebo group. Importantly, the side effects were in line with other oral drugs in the GLP-1 class. Drugs in this class generally cause gastrointestinal problems.
In May, Roche unveiled promising results for a weekly subcutaneous shot that mimics the GLP-1 hormone as well as GIP, another hormone like GLP-1. This is the same mechanism used by Eli Lilly's Zepbound. Over 24 weeks, patients lost 18.8% more weight than the placebo group.
Roche says both oral and injectable drugs will be necessary in the weight-loss drugs space. The company acquired Carmot Therapeutics in January for its pipeline of diabetes and obesity drugs. Roche Pharmaceuticals Chief Executive Teresa Graham told CNBC in December that it may be several years before oral weight-loss drugs are widely available.
Oral Weight-Loss Drugs Look Promising
But other companies are hoping to make a dent sooner.
In June, Structure Therapeutics said patients who took its oral weight-loss drug, GSBR-1290, over 12 weeks lost up to 6.2% to 6.9% more weight than placebo recipients. The drug had "generally favorable safety and tolerability results."
Also in February, Viking Therapeutics said its weight-loss drug, a pill that mimics GLP-1 and GIP receptors, led to 3.3% placebo-adjusted weight loss after just 28 days.
Last year, Eli Lilly said its oral obesity drug, orforglipron, helped patients lose up to 14.7% of their body weight over 36 weeks. In comparison, placebo recipients lost up to 2.3% of their weight.
Pfizer also recently threw its hat into the ring after numerous setbacks. The company is advancing its oral weight-loss drug, danuglipron, into further testing.
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