Roche Targets Top Spot In Weight Loss Drug Market

Core Insights - Roche Holdings AG aims to become a leading player in the growing weight-loss drug market, advancing its obesity pipeline into late-stage development to compete with Eli Lilly and Novo Nordisk [1] - The company has initiated a Phase 3 trial for its experimental obesity treatment CT-388, which was acquired through the 2023 purchase of Carmot Therapeutics [1][2] - Roche plans to have six obesity and related-condition therapies on the market by 2030, with three expected to generate over $1 billion in annual sales [3] Obesity Drug Pipeline - CT-388 has shown significant weight loss results in a Phase 1b trial, demonstrating its potential effectiveness as a once-weekly subcutaneous injection over 24 weeks [2] - Teresa Graham, head of Roche's pharmaceutical division, emphasized the company's commitment to becoming a top three player in the obesity drug market [3] Strategic Acquisitions - Roche has made significant acquisitions to bolster its obesity portfolio, including Zealand Pharma's experimental therapy petrelintide for up to $5.3 billion and U.S. biotech 89bio for up to $3.5 billion, targeting liver disease treatments [4] Other Developments - Roche released positive results from the Phase 3 evERA study for giredestrant in combination with everolimus for specific breast cancer types, meeting both co-primary endpoints and showing improvement in progression-free survival [5][6] - The giredestrant combination was well tolerated, with no new safety signals observed, marking a significant achievement in head-to-head trials [7]