Obesity is a significant public health concern in the major pharmaceutical markets under study and is growing into an epidemic. Despite the prevalence of the disease, few drugs are available to treat it (especially in Europe and Japan). Worse still, available therapies do not have acceptable risk:benefit profiles, and few novel agents are in the late-stage pipeline. Thus, the market opportunity for an antiobesity drug that elicits sustained weight loss and is safe and welltolerated is huge. Antiobesity agents that were launched over 2012-2017 include the GLP-1 receptor agonist Saxenda (Novo Nordisk) and the fixed-dose combination (FDC) of naltrexone and bupropion (Orexigen’s Mysimba in Europe). The diabetes space is inspiring the next generation of weight- loss agents; Novo Nordisk’s semaglutideand Johnson & Johnson’s FDC canagliflozin/phentermine are both in late-stage development.
Questions Answered:
Scope:
Markets covered: United States, France, Germany, Italy, Spain, United Kingdom, Japan.
Primary research: 19 country-specific interviews with obesity thought leaders.
Epidemiology: Prevalence of obesity by severity; prevalence of overweight by eligibility for drug treatment.
Emerging therapies: Phase II: 12 drugs; Phase III: 2 drugs (Phase III-ready); preregistration: 0 drugs; registered: 0 drugs. Coverage of 14 select preclinical and Phase I products.
Key Companies: Alizé Pharma, AstraZeneca, Eisai, Emros Pharmaceuticals, Hanmi Pharmaceuticals, Janssen, Johnson & Johnson, Levo Therapeutics, Mitsubishi Tanabe Pharma, Novartis, Novo Nordisk, Opko Health, Orexigen Therapeutics, Raziel Therapeutics, Rhythm Pharmaceuticals, Sanofi, Saniona, Shionogi, Takeda, Valeant Pharmaceuticals, Vivus, Zealand Pharma
Key Drugs: AZP-531, Belviq, canagliflozin, carbetocin, Contrave/Mysimba, efpeglenatide, EMP-16, Invokana, LIK-066, lorcaserin, MEDI-0382, OPK-88003, orlistat, phentermine, phentermine/canagliflozin, phentermine/topiramate, Qsymia, RZL-012, S-237648, Saxenda, semaglutide, setmelanotide, taurocholic acid, tesofensine, Xenical, ZP-2929.