Roche declares war on obesity with billion-euro takeover
Published: Monday, Dec 4th 2023, 08:10
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The pharmaceutical company Roche is entering the fight against obesity with an acquisition in the USA. The Basel-based company will pay 2.7 billion US dollars for the US company Carmot Therapeutics and may also receive milestone payments of up to 400 million dollars.
According to a statement on Monday, Carmot Therapeutics is privately owned and has product candidates in its pipeline that can be used to treat obesity in patients with and without diabetes. They are all based on the novel GLP-1 mechanism of action, which has recently been the subject of much media attention.
The drug Wegovy, for example, recently caused a sensation. It is a drug from the Danish pharmaceutical company Novo Nordisk. It contains the active ingredient semaglutide, which promotes weight loss in people who are severely overweight.
Wegovy, for example, must be injected under the skin once a week. In people with obesity without additional diabetes, Wegovy therapy can lead to a weight reduction of up to 15 percent over an 18-month treatment period. In principle, Wegovy increases the feeling of satiety, which reduces the calories consumed, as patients simply have less hunger and appetite.
Other products in this area include Ozempic, also from Novo Nordisk, and Eli Lilly's diabetes drug Mounjaro, which also helps to reduce weight.
With the acquisition of Carmot, Roche is now adding three important GLP-1 product candidates to its portfolio. Two of the candidates are being tested in the treatment of obesity in patients with and without type 2 diabetes, while the third is to be used to treat type 1 diabetes patients who are overweight or obese.
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