By Maggie Fick
LONDON (Reuters) -Swiss drugmaker Roche signalled its ambition to join Eli Lilly and Novo Nordisk at the top of the booming weight-loss market on Monday, as it advanced one of its experimental obesity drugs into a late-stage trial.
Shares were up 2.8% in afternoon trading, outperforming a broadly unchanged European healthcare index.
Roche’s decision to begin a phase III trial of its experimental obesity drug CT-388 marks a major step in its push to break into the fast-growing obesity drug market that some analysts estimate will be worth $150 billion annually by the early 2030s.
Roche acquired this drug candidate in late 2023 when it acquired U.S. biotech firm Carmot Therapeutics in its first effort to challenge the dominant makers of weight-loss drugs Novo Nordisk and Eli Lilly.
Shares had jumped nearly 5% when it reported significant weight-loss results from an early-stage trial of this drug.
THREE DRUGS BEING TRIALLED COULD BE BLOCKBUSTERS
At an investor day in London, company executives laid out why they believed Roche could seize market share from Novo and Lilly, the first entrants to the obesity drug race, showing their understanding of the market’s unique dynamics. This included the fact that much of it remains a cash-payer market, with patients paying out of pocket without insurance reimbursement.
Roche pharmaceutical division head Teresa Graham told investors the company planned to secure a strong entry to the lucrative obesity-drug market with competitive products by 2030.
It has six drug candidates in trials for the treatment of obesity and related conditions like type 2 diabetes and hypertension, which the company estimates could all be launched by 2030. Three of those drugs could become blockbusters with annual sales over $1 billion, she said.
“Our goal is to become a Top 3 player (in the obesity drug market), and I want you to know I’m serious about this goal,” Graham said.
Roche has taken other steps this year to bolster its obesity drug pipeline.
In March, it acquired Zealand Pharma’s experimental weight-loss drug petrelintide for up to $5.3 billion. It also hired Morten Lammert from rival Novo Nordisk as its global therapeutic area head for cardiovascular, renal and metabolism to oversee commercial strategy for its obesity drugs in development.
(Reporting by Maggie Fick; editing by Danilo Masoni, Louise Heavens and Bernadette Baum)
