Weight loss drugs are all the rage in the pharmaceutical industry. Now, AbbVie wants a piece of the pie.
The North Chicago-based drug company announced a $350 million deal on March 3 to purchase Denmark-based biotech company Gubra and its weight loss medication, GUB014295, also known as Gubamy. The deal also left room for up to $1.9 billion in performance-based milestone payments.
Gubamy, a once-weekly injection, is currently in a Phase 1 clinical trial. It mimics the hormone amylin, which regulates blood sugar and appetite, and can send signals to the brain that suppress eating and slow digestion, according to a release.
This is different from competitors that create drugs to mimic the GLP-1 hormone, which has, so far, been the more popular approach for approved weight loss drugs like Novo Nordisk’s Ozempic and Wegovy and Eli Lilly’s Mounjaro and Zepbound. Novo’s new drug CagriSema, which combines Wegovy’s active ingredient with an amylin analog, is in a Phase 3 trial, and Lilly is working on an amylin-based drug that’s in Phase 2 trials.
BioSpace reported that amylin differs from GLP-1s, as it may help patients lose more fat than lean mass (like muscle) and may cause less side effects.
“Our partnership with Gubra marks our entry into the obesity field, offering a compelling opportunity based on the potential to address patient needs while also fostering long-term growth for our company,” AbbVie CEO Robert Michael said in the release.
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Heated competition. The weight loss market is highly competitive, and has been for most of the 2020s. In addition to Novo and Lilly, which are currently the two highest-performing drugmakers in the sector, companies like Hims and Hers have also tried to enter the competition through compounding, which is the process of making similar medications using the same ingredients.
A study from September reported that 16 new obesity medications could come to market in the next five years, Healthcare Brew previously reported. Biotech consulting firm Iqvia reported that in 2023, the global weight loss drug market reached $24 billion, and predicted that number could reach $131 billion by 2028.
Angela Fitch, chief medical officer of weight loss primary care company Knownwell, told Healthcare Brew in a statement that he more innovation we have in the metabolic health and weight management disease space, the better off we will be.”
“It’s good news that so many companies are getting into this underserved space,” she added.