Investing in the most popular companies in this space is not the only valid approach.
The ecosystem of companies competing to develop treatments for weight loss is growing every day, and there are multiple competitors ready to invest. While many investors look to smaller, riskier biotechs to gain exposure, there are larger, safer options as well.
Today we will discuss two such options. Neither is a leader in the weight loss field yet, but with a promising line of irons, they are in a position to achieve great things in the future.
1.Amgen
amgen (AMGN -0.69%) It’s not usually considered a weight loss drug stock, but it’s still a strong one. Only one program is being developed explicitly for weight loss, and it’s called MariTide, which is in Phase 2 clinical trials.
Results from the Phase 2 trial should be available by the end of 2024, but management is already planning to advance the candidate into Phase 3 development. There are also plans to launch a parallel phase 2 clinical trial to treat type 2 diabetes by 2025.
If both of these trials are successful and the drug is ultimately approved for sale, its applicable market size will be similar to that of a blockbuster drug that can treat both obesity and type 2 diabetes. There is a possibility that it will happen. Eli Lilly and novo nordisk. In other words, it could theoretically bring in billions of dollars in revenue every quarter.
One of the differentiating factors for MariTide is its ability to provide patients with sustained weight loss so that lost weight does not return once treatment is discontinued. In previous studies, patients who received the highest doses of the candidate tested were able to avoid regaining most of the weight they lost for at least 150 days after their last dose. This means that the patient weighs 11.2% less than at the start of the study.
In contrast, most patients eventually regain the weight they lost when they stop taking Lillys and Novo Nordisk weight loss drugs.
Only time will tell if MariTide is actually as powerful as early data suggests. But this is just one program in Amgen’s vast pipeline, not to mention its portfolio of drugs on the market. Failure in this program will not significantly slow down the company, but success can result in significant growth. It’s a good stock to buy now because the balance of risk and return is very lopsided.
2. AstraZeneca
AstraZeneca (AZN -0.77%) The company sees weight management drugs as a long-term ambition and sees this category as one of the main drivers of growth from 2030 onwards. There is currently only one program in development specifically for weight management, AZD6234, which is in Phase 1 clinical trials. These could be completed in the second half of 2025.
Importantly, AstraZeneca CEO Pascal Soriot believes the distinction between weight management and weight loss is particularly meaningful for this program. While drugs indicated for the treatment of obesity may be forgiven for their difficult side effect profiles, with the idea that patients won’t need to take them forever, executives believe the market has a more moderate There is likely to be plenty of room for new drugs to be accepted. This is suitable for long-term use or in less severe overweight situations.
This view makes a lot of sense, especially given that tolerability can be an issue with currently market-leading weight loss drugs. So investors shouldn’t be concerned if AstraZeneca’s program doesn’t report surprising levels of fat mobilization. The CEO has a point, and there is no doubt that it makes economic sense.
The company also has another early-stage program testing for metabolic-associated steatohepatitis (MASH) in people who are overweight or obese and have type 2 diabetes, which completed a Phase 1 trial around the same time. are. The candidate aims to use the GLP-1 receptor as a target, similar to hit drugs from Eli Lilly and Novo Nordisk. Therefore, they are more likely to cause weight loss by utilizing the same mechanism of action.
Once the initial work is complete, if AstraZeneca has reason to believe it has any differentiating properties, it could easily move on to a Phase 2 trial to test for that purpose.
Like Amgen, AstraZeneca’s cardiometabolic program is just one part of its extensive research and development (R&D) pipeline. This makes the long road to market entry less risky than it would otherwise be. At the same time, we are actively searching for candidates that are not only highly effective, but also have fewer side effects, which is a very different approach than that of our peers, and is a smart approach.
If you’re patient enough to wait for more details, which could take years, this stock is worth taking a chance on.
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