By Abigail Townsend
Date: Thursday 16 May 2024
LONDON (ShareCast) - (Sharecast News) - Roche reported positive trial results for its experimental weight loss treatment on Thursday, sending shares in the Swiss drugs group higher.
Announcing the results from phase Ib trials of CT-388, the Basel-based firm said that over 24 weeks, the once-weekly injection had achieved "clinically meaningful and statistically significant" weight loss in healthy test subjects.
The mean placebo-adjusted weight loss achieved was 18.8%.
Levi Garraway, chief medical officer and head of global product development at Roche, said: "The results are highly encouraging for further development of CT-388 for both obesity and type 2 diabetes, and underscore its potential to become a best-in-class therapy with durable weight loss and glucose control."
As at 1115 BST, shares in Roche were trading 3% higher.
The weight loss sector is currently dominated by Novo Nordisk, with its drugs Wegovy and Ozempic, and Eli Lilly & Co's Zepbound.
Along with CT-388, the treatments belong to a new class of drug called GLP-1 agonists. Developed for type 2 diabetes, they reduce food cravings and cause the stomach to empty more slowly.
Analysts expect GLP-1 drugs to surpass cancer immunotherapies as the best-selling medicines as early as this year, according to Reuters.
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Currency | US Dollars |
Share Price | $ 878.45 |
Change Today | $ -4.88 |
% Change | -0.55 % |
52 Week High | $884.61 |
52 Week Low | $434.70 |
Volume | 2,023,264 |
Shares Issued | 949.78m |
Market Cap | $834,335m |
RiskGrade | 179 |
Strong Buy | 9 |
Buy | 12 |
Neutral | 6 |
Sell | 0 |
Strong Sell | 0 |
Total | 27 |
Time | Volume / Share Price |
16:00 | 303,019 @ $878.45 |
15:59 | 440 @ $878.90 |
15:59 | 340 @ $878.90 |
15:59 | 788 @ $879.00 |
15:59 | 104 @ $879.00 |
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