The race for the ‘Ozempic pill’: Pharma heavyweights hunt for a tablet version of weight-loss drug that’ll be cheaper than injectables and suitable for anyone ‘needle-phobic’ – as Pfizer, Eli Lilly and Novo Nordisk lead the charge
- Pfizer, Eli Lilly and Novo Nordisk are competing to introduce an Ozempic-like pill
- Analysts said the market could be worth $100billion by the end of the decade
The pharmaceutical giant behind the sensational weight loss drug Ozempic is racing to bring a pill to the market, which would be cheaper and easier to take.
Ozempic, Wegovy and Mounjaro are brand names for similar injectable drugs that have sky rocketed in popularity, and which enable weight loss by reducing appetite.
Now, companies Pfizer, Eli Lilly and Novo Nordisk are looking to cash in on the craze by deploying the main ingredient, semaglutide, in pill form. Analysts have said the market for such an oral drug could be worth $100billion by the end of the decade.
Currently at the front of the pack is Danish company Novo Nordisk, which made the first advancements with semaglutide and manufacturers both Ozempic and Wegovy.
In May it completed a trial of an oral drug it calls Oasis, which it said had been taken for 68 weeks by 667 adults, who on average lost 15 percent of their body weight.
Later this year, it plans to file for US and European drug regulators to approve the tablet, it said in a statement announcing the trial.
The craze around the drugs, which were first introduced within the last decade as a medication for diabetes, has been spurred by their use among celebrities including Elon Musk.
Ozempic, Wegovy and Mounjaro are brand names for similar injectable drugs that have sky rocketed in popularity. Pictured is a patient injecting Ozempic
Now Pfizer, Eli Lilly and Novo Nordisk are looking to cash in on the craze by deploying the main ingredient in pill form. Pictured are generic pills
Pfizer, which does not currently have a direct rival product to Novo Nordisk’s injectable Ozempic and Wegovy, is also in the race.
Pfizer’s pill – Danuglipron – was found to be effective in a clinical trial involving 411 adults who had diabetes, it was revealed in a study which came out in May. Shares of Pfizer rose about 4.5 percent following the news.
Patients who took a 120-milligram dose of the drug twice a day for 16 weeks lost around 10 pounds or 4.5 kilograms.
By comparison, in Ozempic’s phase three trial, patients who received up to two milligram injections of the drug once a week for 30 weeks also lost around 10 pounds.
Both Pfizer and Novo Nordisk’s drugs work by mimicking a hormone in the gut that makes someone feel full. That leads to reduced appetite and food consumption.
But concerns have been raised over side effects including losing muscle mass, hair loss and piling the weight back on after coming off the drugs.
Some doctors have spoken out on social media about a rise in patients on Ozempic and Wegovy coming to hospitals with violent diarrhea, bloating and nausea — three of the more severe side effects of the fat-loss injection.
The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has also raised the alarm over a rise in risky counterfeit versions of the drug, which are being sold by rogue pharmacies cashing on huge demand for the treatments and also causing waves of sickness.
Developing the oral version of the drug has presented additional hurdles.
The Wall Street Journal reported that the pills are problematic because they travel through the digestive tract because and are swallowed and that can cause degradation of the drug.
Elon Musk (left) credits his spectacular weight loss in 2020 to Wegovy. The tech tycoon looked noticeably slim when he first arrived in Twitter HQ after purchasing the company in October (right)
Danish company Novo Nordisk, which made the first advancements with semaglutide and manufacturers both Ozempic and Wegovy, is preparing to file for a new pill Oasis to be approved by regulators
Another horse in the race is Eli Lilly, which is behind the injectable semaglutide product Mounjaro (pictured)
To work around that companies have been increasing the dosage and experimenting with other molecules that degrade less easily.
BMO Capital Markets analyst Evan David Seigerman told The Journal that the pill would have mass appeal.
‘Some people are just needle-phobic,’ he said.
Seigerman estimated the pill could make up about 15 percent of the total market, which he predicts will reach $100 billion in annual sales worldwide in coming years.
Another horse in the race is Eli Lilly, which is behind the injectable semaglutide product Mounjaro, is a third party vying for a piece of the lucrative new pie.
Lilly is hoping to introduce a drug called orforglipron. Although it does not contain semaglitude it will work in much the same way.
Researchers reported at the annual meeting of the American Diabetes Association in San Diego on Friday that a pill taken daily for 36 weeks helped volunteers to similarly lose around 15 percent of their body weight.
Lilly recently started a larger clinical trial, hoping to get the pill on the market.
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