Nov 9 (Reuters) – Zealand Pharma and Boehringer Ingelheim’s experimental obesity drug did not increase the risk of serious heart problems compared to a placebo in a late-stage trial, the companies said on Monday.
• The study enrolled 5,530 adults with obesity who had cardiovascular diseases, chronic kidney diseases, or at least two weight-related complications or cardiovascular risk factors
• The trial met its main goal by showing that the drug, survodutide, did not increase the risk of major cardiovascular events, including heart attack, stroke and cardiovascular death
• Patients receiving survodutide lost up to 13.7% of their body weight after 72 weeks and also saw greater reductions in blood pressure and waist circumference than those on placebo, the companies said
• Stomach-related side effects were the most common, including nausea, vomiting, and diarrhea. About 20% of the patients on survodutide stopped treatment because of these side effects, compared with 1.9% on placebo
• Survodutide, a dual glucagon/GLP-1 receptor agonist licensed by Boehringer Ingelheim from Zealand Pharma, is being developed for obesity and related cardiometabolic diseases
• Boehringer, which holds global development and commercialization rights for survodutide, plans to submit an application for global regulatory approval to treat obesity
(Reporting by Kamal Choudhury in Bengaluru; Editing by Shinjini Ganguli)
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