The Amgen logo is displayed in front of the Amgen headquarters in Thousand Oaks, California on May 17, 2023.
Mario Tama | Getty Images
Amgen announced Thursday that it would stop development of its experimental weight-loss pill and instead advance development of its injectable drug and other anti-obesity products in development.
Amgen is one of several drugmakers vying to enter the red-hot weight-loss drug space dominated by Novo Nordisk And Eli Lilly, which some analysts say could be worth $100 billion by the end of the decade. But the company also has other ways to capture part of the market.
“Given the profile we’ve seen [the oral drug]We will not follow any further developments. Instead, we are making differentiated investments in MariTide and a number of preclinical products in the obesity space,” Amgen Chief Scientific Officer Jay Bradner said during a conference call Thursday.
Amgen is developing an injectable anti-obesity drug called MariTide, which is in an ongoing mid-stage trial in obese or overweight adults without diabetes. The company will release initial data from this study later this year, and Bradner said Amgen is “very pleased” with the results so far.
The company said it is working with regulators to plan a late-stage trial for the treatment. Amgen said Thursday that it is also planning a Phase 2 trial of the drug to treat diabetes.
Amgen shares rose more than 10% in extended trading Thursday following the comment on MariTide.
Amgen is also developing other weight management drugs.
The drugmaker's oral drug, called AMG-786, is the second weight-loss pill to be discontinued in the past year.
Pfizer scrapped a twice-daily version of its obesity pill danuglipron in December after patients in a mid-stage trial had difficulty tolerating the drug. The company is currently developing a once-daily version of this drug.
Investors are fully focused on Amgen's pipeline of experimental weight loss treatments. Amgen hopes to use a different approach to stand out from the crowded field of potential players.
The company's experimental injection helps people lose weight differently than existing injectable medications. Similar to Novo Nordisk's Wegovy and Eli Lilly's Zepbound, part of Amgen's treatment activates a gut hormone receptor called GLP-1 to regulate a person's appetite.
But while Zepbound activates a second hormone receptor called GIP, Amgen's drug blocks it. Wegovy does not target GIP, which like GLP-1 suppresses appetite, but may also improve the way the body breaks down sugar and fat.
According to some clinical trial data, Amgen's injectable treatment also appears to help patients reduce their weight after they stop taking it. The drugmaker is also testing that its drug should be taken once a month or even less often, which could provide more convenience than weekly medications on the market.
Patients given the highest dose of Amgen's MariTide – 420 milligrams – each month lost an average of 14.5% of their body weight in just 12 weeks, according to data from the phase 1 trial published in February in the journal Nature Metabolism were published.
Amgen's first quarter results
Also on Thursday, Amgen reported first-quarter sales and adjusted earnings that beat Wall Street expectations, thanks in part to products from recently acquired Horizon Therapeutics.
Here's what Amgen reported for the first quarter compared to Wall Street's expectations, based on an LSEG analyst survey:
- Earnings per share: $3.96 versus expected $3.87
- Revenue: $7.45 billion versus expected $7.44 billion
Amgen reported a net loss of $113 million, or 21 cents per share. In comparison, net income in the year-ago period was $2.84 billion, or $5.28 per share.
Excluding certain items, the company reported profit of $3.96 per share.
Amgen posted first-quarter revenue of $7.45 billion, up 22% from the same period last year.
This includes $914 million from Horizon Therapeutics products, including Tepezza for the treatment of thyroid eye disease.
Excluding Horizon Therapeutics' drugs, Amgen said its product sales rose 6% compared to the same period last year. Ten products achieved double-digit volume growth in the first quarter, including the cardiovascular drug Repatha, the severe asthma treatment Tezspire and Blincyto, a drug used to treat a certain blood cancer.
Amgen also adjusted its forecast for the full year slightly upwards from its low point on Thursday.
The company expects revenue of $32.5 billion to $33.8 billion in 2024. That compares with a previous forecast of $32.4 billion to $33.8 billion.
Amgen expects full-year adjusted earnings of $19 to $20.20 per share. This compares to previous guidance of $18.90 to $20.30 per share.
Analysts surveyed by LSEG expect full-year revenue of $32.95 billion and adjusted earnings of $19.48 per share.
