The Amgen logo is displayed outside the Amgen headquarters in Thousand Oaks, California on May 17, 2023.
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Amgen The company said Thursday it will stop developing experimental weight-loss drugs and instead continue developing injectable drugs and other obesity products.
The news is a setback for Angen, one of several drugmakers vying to join the hot weight loss drug field. Novo Nordisk and Eli Lilly and CompanySome analysts say it could be worth $100 billion by the end of the decade. But the company has other opportunities to capture market share.
Jay Bradner, chief scientific officer of Amgen, said: “Given what we saw (oral drugs), we will not pursue further development. Instead, in obesity, we have positive results for MariTide and many Differentiated investments were made in preclinical assets.
Amgen is developing an injectable obesity treatment called MariTide in an ongoing mid-stage trial in obese or overweight adults without diabetes. The company will release preliminary data from the study later this year and said it is working with regulators to plan late-stage trials. Amgen also plans to conduct a Phase 2 trial of the drug to treat diabetes.
Amgen is also developing other weight management drugs.
The drugmaker’s oral drug AMG-786 is the second weight-loss drug to be discontinued last year.
Pfizer canceled its twice-daily weight-loss drug Danuglipron in December after patients struggled to tolerate the drug in mid-stage trials. The company is currently developing a once-daily version of the drug.
Investors are paying close attention to Amgen’s pipeline of experimental weight-loss treatments. Amgen hopes to stand out among the crowd of potential players in a different way.
The company’s experimental injection helps people lose weight in a different way than existing injectable drugs. Much like Novo Nordisk’s Wegovy and Eli Lilly and Company’s Zepbound, one of Amgen’s treatments activates a gut hormone receptor called GLP-1 to help 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 suppresses appetite like GLP-1 but may also improve the way the body breaks down sugar and fat.
Amgen’s injectable treatment also appears to help patients maintain weight after they stop taking the drug, according to some clinical trial data. The drugmaker is also testing taking its drug once a month or even less frequently, which could offer more convenience than weekly pills on the market.
According to the data, patients who took Amgen’s highest dose of MariTide (420 mg) every month lost an average of 14.5% of their body weight in just 12 weeks. Data from Phase 1 Trial Published in the February issue of Nature Metabolism.
Amgen’s first quarter results
Also on Thursday, Amgen reported first-quarter revenue and adjusted earnings that beat Wall Street expectations, in part due to products from its recent acquisition of Horizon Therapeutics.
Here’s how Amgen’s first-quarter report compared with Wall Street expectations, according to a survey of analysts by London Stock Exchange Group (LSEG):
- Earnings per share: $3.96 vs expected $3.87
- income: $7.45 billion vs. $7.44 billion expected
Amgen reported a net loss of $113 million, or 21 cents per share. This compares with net income of $2.84 billion, or $5.28 per share, in the same period last year.
Excluding certain items, the company reported earnings of $3.96 per share.
Amgen’s first-quarter revenue was US$7.45 billion, an increase of 22% year-on-year.
That includes $914 million for Horizon Therapeutics’ products, including thyroid eye disease treatment Tepezza.
Amgen said that excluding Horizon Therapeutics’ drugs, its product sales increased 6% compared with the same period last year. Ten products achieved double-digit sales growth in the first quarter, including cardiovascular drug Repatha, severe asthma treatment Tezspire and Blincyto, a treatment for a certain blood cancer.
Amgen also slightly narrowed its full-year guidance on Thursday.
The company expects 2024 revenue of $32.5 billion to $33.8 billion. This compares with previous guidance of $32.4 billion to $33.8 billion.
Amgen expects full-year adjusted profit of $19 to $20.20 per share. That compares with previous guidance of $18.90 to $20.30 per share.
Analysts surveyed by LSEG expected full-year revenue of $32.95 billion and adjusted profit of $19.48 per share.
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