ROCHE has agreed to take over unlisted obesity drug developer Carmot Therapeutics for US$2.7b (A$4.1b) upfront, joining a list of contestants seeking to challenge the dominant makers of weight-loss drugs Novo Nordisk and Eli Lilly, Reuters has reported.
The US takeover target's most promising drug candidate, a once-a-week injection called CT-388, is a dual GLP-1/GIP receptor agonist like Lilly's Mounjaro or Zepbound.
After encouraging Phase I trial results, the Carmot drug is ready to be tested on humans in the second of three trial stages, with a possible market launch in the 2030s, the head of Roche's pharmaceuticals division Teresa Graham said.
Weight-loss drug market leader Novo is ahead with its injection Wegovy, a single agonist of the GLP-1 gut hormone receptor.
Overwhelming demand has left the weight loss manufacturers scrambling to boost production.
Roche shares rose 2.4% to a six-week high this week on optimism that the weight-loss market, estimated by some analysts to reach US$100b (A$152b), will accommodate many rivals.
"The markets are large enough for 'me too' products, particularly when offered at the right price," Zuercher Kantonalbank analysts said in a note.
Roche's Graham said the company was more ambitious than just having a low-price alternative to the leaders in the market, adding that CT-388 could become the best obesity drug in the GLP-1 class, either on its own or in combination with other compounds.
"There is opportunity for deeper weight loss, there is opportunity for that weight loss to happen more quickly and tolerability is maybe one of the bigger issues," she said.
Under the Carmot deal, which is expected to close in the first quarter of 2024, its owners will receive up to US$400m (A$610m)in addition to the upfront payment if certain milestones are achieved, Roche explained. JG
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