The Amgen logo was displayed on May 17, 2023 outside Amgen headquarters in Thousand Oaks, California.
Mario Tama | Getty Images
Anjin It has begun two major late-stage trials to conduct experimental weight loss injections on Wednesday MaritThis is another step into the booming obesity drug market.
“We are happy to share that these trials have begun now and in fact, the maritime program is progressing very well,” said Dr. Jay Bradner, chief scientific officer of Amgen, at the TD Cowen meeting, the name of the Phase 3 development program using the drug.
Maritide is a monthly injection that investors hope to compete with existing weight loss medications Novo Nordisk and Yililaiweekly injections.
Bradner said one of the new Phase 3 trials is to examine Amgen medication for about 3,500 obese patients or overweight people without type 2 diabetes. The second study examined marine organisms in 999 patients who were obese or overweight with type 2 diabetes
The main goal of both studies was to measure the percentage of weight loss at 72 weeks. Amgen will study the ocean doses of three target doses and plan to use dose escalation, or initiate the patient with a lower dose of medication and increase that amount over time. The company did not share a specific dose regimen in the trial.
Amgen said in November that Maritide helped obese patients lose 20% of their weight There was no weight loss plateau after an average of one year in the second phase of the trial. The drug also helped obese and type 2 diabetes lose 17% weight a year later, but without plateaus. But the result is at the bottom of Wall Street’s lofty expectations for the drug.
Amgen will report more data on Maritide this year. The complete results of the Phase 2 trial will be presented at the American Diabetes Association meeting in June. The company will also continue to study patients to expand the trial, which will be read in the second half of this year.
Compared with existing drugs on the market, Maritide brings a new method of weight loss because it is a so-called peptide antibody conjugate, which refers to a monoclonal antibody associated with both peptides. The receptor that peptides activate gut hormones is called GLP-1, while the antibody blocks the receptor of another hormone, called GIP.
This is unlike Eli Lilly’s obesity drug Zepbound, which activates GIP and GLP-1. Wegovy activates GLP-1 but does not target GIP, which may also affect how the body breaks down sugar and fat.
