Structure Therapeutics' potential rival to Eli Lilly in weight-loss drugs missed early-stage testing expectations on Monday. GPCR stock plummeted in morning trades.
Both companies are working on daily pills that could treat type 2 diabetes and obesity in the red-hot GLP-1 agonist space. The current suite of leaders on the market are weekly injections.
But it looks like Structure has some work to do, Leerink Partners analyst David Risinger said. After eight weeks, patients with obesity who received Structure's pill lost 4.74% more weight than placebo recipients. Patients with type 2 diabetes — who tend to lose less weight with GLP-1 drugs — lost 3.26% to 3.51% more weight than the placebo recipients.
In comparison, Lilly's drug led to a 5% to 6% difference in weight loss over 12 weeks in one study of patients with type 2 diabetes. In another study, patients lost up to 7.1% of their weight.
On today's stock market, GPCR stock plunged 42.8% to 33.83. Eli Lilly stock, on the other hand, rose 1.4% to close at 579.76.
GPCR Stock Drops Out Of Its Base
Structure also examined HbA1C, a marker of blood glucose. After 12 weeks, patients with diabetes had 1.01% to 1.02% differences in blood sugar compared to the placebo group.
That lined up with the company's own expectations for a 1% improvement. But the Lilly drug led to 1.25% to 1.75% improvements in one study, and up to a 1.37% difference in another, Risinger said.
Notably, only 2.8% of patients with type 2 diabetes discontinued treatment due to gastrointestinal side effects tied to the drug class. None of the patients with obesity dropped out of the test.
"High rates of nausea and vomiting could be addressed with slower titration in future (studies)," Risinger said in his report.
He kept his outperform rating on GPCR stock.
But shares, which had been forming a cup-with-handle base and a buy point at 66.38, plummeted to a four-month low, according to MarketSmith.com. GPCR stock has a best-possible IBD Digital Relative Strength Rating of 99.
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