A Danish pharmaceutical company announced Friday that its experimental weight-loss medication demonstrated better tolerability in clinical testing, potentially offering patients a more comfortable alternative to current obesity treatments on the market.
Zealand Pharma shared new data about its drug petrelintide, developed in partnership with Swiss company Roche, at the American Diabetes Association meeting in New Orleans. The results showed promising signs for patients who struggle with side effects from existing obesity medications.
Key findings from the mid-stage trial include:
• Just 1.5% of patients receiving weekly injections of petrelintide stopped their treatment because of stomach-related problems
• Digestive side effects that did occur were generally mild, with 19.6% experiencing nausea and 3% reporting vomiting, compared to 6.2% nausea in patients receiving placebo
• Less than 7.5% of participants in both treatment and placebo groups experienced diarrhea or constipation
• The medication also showed benefits for heart health, reducing inflammation markers, waist measurements, and triglyceride levels beyond what placebo achieved
Zealand previously announced in March that petrelintide helped patients lose up to 10.7% of their body weight over 42 weeks in a study involving 493 participants. However, those weight-loss results disappointed investors and caused the company’s stock value to drop significantly, particularly after a competing drug from Eli Lilly demonstrated up to 20.1% weight loss in similar testing.
The Danish company is working to establish itself in the profitable obesity treatment market by positioning its medications as having milder side effects than current leading treatments Zepbound and Wegovy, manufactured by market leaders Lilly and Novo Nordisk respectively.
Petrelintide works differently than existing blockbuster drugs. While Wegovy and Zepbound target the GLP-1 hormone to suppress appetite, amylin-based medications like petrelintide activate brain receptors and slow stomach emptying, potentially causing less severe side effects while better preserving muscle mass.
Roche obtained rights to petrelintide through a collaboration and licensing agreement worth up to $5.3 billion that was finalized last year.
