It’s a sign of the times that at this year’s American Diabetes Association (ADA) Scientific Sessions meeting in New Orleans, there was more talk about obesity drugs and pipeline programs than diabetes-specific treatments.
At the event, a number of leading biopharmaceutical companies shared the latest information on next-generation medicines aimed at helping patients slim down and protecting them from various metabolic-related diseases.
When it comes to big pharma and the incretin market, another sign of the times is that Eli Lilly has emerged as a “clear winner from ADA,” said Chun Huynh, a pharmaceutical analyst at RBC Capital Markets.
“ADA moderately strengthens RBC’s positive view of Lilly and makes the team increasingly cautious about Pfizer,” Hyun added. “The field is getting more crowded, but Lily is extending her lead.”
Lilly highlighted a session with more positive data for the long-awaited Triple G Retaltortide, which made headlines last month with impressive weight loss figures of 28% at 80 weeks and 30% at 104 weeks at the maximum dose of treatment, 12mg.
Last weekend, Professor Lilly published the results of two “nested basket studies” from the same trial, showing that letaltortide could reduce knee osteoarthritis pain by up to 73% and help reduce sleep apnea episodes from an average of 59 episodes per hour to 36 episodes per hour in patients with moderate to severe disease.
“At baseline, people were waking up 60 times an hour, so if you cut that down by 60%, can you imagine the impact that would have on their mood and ability to function the next day,” Rachel Butterham, Lilly’s SVP of medical innovation and external engagement, said at the conference.
Hyunh added that the results provide evidence of the potential for letartortide’s “broader use” and strengthen its status as a “major efficacy asset in obesity.”
At the ADA, several other leading pharmaceutical companies, including Pfizer, Novo Nordisk and Roche, announced their top candidates to fight obesity.
As for Pfizer, the company’s obesity drug brenoventide led to 16% weight loss over 32 weeks, but “there was no movement needed for competitive position,” Hyun wrote, adding that brenobentide’s tolerability issues “dominated the investor conversation.” He noted that nausea was 35% to 37%, vomiting was 22% to 25%, and discontinuation was 21%, compared to a 4% to 7% discontinuation rate for Lilly’s current market leader, Zepbound.
The advantage of Novo Nordisk’s next-generation drug Kaglisema is its “competitive type 2 diabetes profile” and “ability to achieve weight loss endpoints faster than letaltortide,” Hyun said.
However, one downside has emerged: the results of cardiovascular outcomes trials needed for regulatory submissions will not be released until the second half of 2027. Lilly, by contrast, expects to file an application for letaltortide in the second half of this year or the first half of 2027.
Another key takeaway from the ADA, Hyun said, was that while Roche and Zealand’s potentially first-in-class petrelintide “has a strong tolerability story,” it produced only a modest 11% weight loss over 42 weeks compared to injectable treatment.
