Biotechs aim to leapfrog Ozempic in red-hot weight loss market

That is a part of a sequence about new weight problems medicine which can be remodeling sufferers’ lives, dividing medical consultants, and spurring one of many greatest enterprise battles in years. Learn extra about The Weight problems Revolution.

For almost a decade, Novartis aggressively pursued a drug candidate for muscle issues, testing it on individuals with power irritation, aged individuals with frailty, hip surgical procedure sufferers, and different teams.

Repeatedly, the trials failed to point out that the drug, bimagrumab, led to a big sufficient enchancment in sufferers’ bodily perform. However researchers observed one thing else: The sufferers misplaced physique fats.

In 2017, Novartis determined to run yet another trial in individuals with weight problems and diabetes. It discovered the drug prompted a mean lack of 21% in fats mass and likewise a 4% achieve in lean mass — a mixture that had not been seen earlier than in any weight reduction drug.

Regardless of the findings, Novartis set bimagrumab up on the market. Though buyers had been flocking to the biotech sector, the weight problems subject was a drug improvement desert, with funding truly dropping, in line with information from PitchBook. Weight reduction remedies had a checkered historical past of being ineffective or unsafe, and the few that did make it to market had been business flops.

However Joe Jimenez, the CEO of Novartis by means of a lot of bimagrumab’s improvement, and another ex-Novartis staff noticed potential. They launched a brand new startup known as Versanis Bio to license the drug in 2021.

Now, as the brand new weight reduction drug Wegovy surges in recognition and turns the trade’s focus again on weight problems, Versanis sees potential for bimagrumab to change into a key contender within the weight problems market and leapfrog rivals with its skill to construct muscle.