Roche has reported that its experimental obesity and diabetes drug enicepatid cleared the primary endpoints of a Phase 2 clinical trial, the Swiss pharmaceutical giant said Tuesday. The company said the results reinforce its plan to expand its portfolio of therapies targeting people with obesity, diabetes and cardiovascular disease.
The trial enrolled adults with type-2 diabetes who were also overweight or obese. Patients receiving the highest dose of enicepatid saw their blood-sugar levels fall by an average of 2.65% after 48 weeks, while the same group lost an average of 15.5% of their body weight over the same period. Roche noted that the weight-loss curve had not yet reached a plateau.
Levi Garraway, Roche’s chief medical officer, said a "significant proportion" of patients achieved normalized glucose levels in under a year of treatment.
The company described enicepatid’s safety and tolerability profile as consistent with that of similar existing therapies. The study discontinuation rate due to adverse events was just 2%, Roche said.
Roche said it plans to launch a Phase 3 program to evaluate enicepatid’s ability to control blood sugar and improve cardiovascular outcomes, building on studies already underway for chronic weight management.
