Pfizer stock jumped early Thursday after the drugmaker said it selected a once-daily pill to move forward as a potential weight-loss drug.
The company plans to run multiple studies this year of danuglipron to determine the correct dose to move ahead into pivotal testing. But Leerink Partners analyst David Risinger says those tests won't show the effectiveness and safety of danuglipron as a daily pill.
"Our view is that it remains to be seen whether once-daily danuglipron offers competitive (effectiveness), tolerability, safety and administration," he said in a client note. "We would not expect (effectiveness) and tolerability results in obese patients until 2026 at the earliest."
Still, on today's stock market, Pfizer stock advanced 1.1% to 28.66. Shares hurdled their 200-day moving average, according to MarketSurge.
Pfizer Stock: Numerous Setbacks
The long-awaited news follows numerous setbacks for Pfizer's efforts to develop a weight-loss drug.
Last year, the company scrapped development of a twice-daily version of danuglipron due to high rates of gastrointestinal side effects. Previous to that, Pfizer stopped developing another once-a-day pill that caused elevated liver enzymes.
Pfizer says it has evaluated several modified release versions of danuglipron. To date, there haven't been any safety concerns among the roughly 1,400 people who've receive danuglipron, Pfizer said in its news release.
Chief Scientific Office Mikael Dolsten said obesity treatment is a key focus area for Pfizer. The de facto leaders of the market, Novo Nordisk and Eli Lilly, make weekly injections called Wegovy and Zepbound, respectively.
Pills Could Be Preferred Weight-Loss Drugs
Experts say daily pills could be more palatable for some patients. Structure Therapeutics and Lilly are also testing once-a-day pills as weight-loss drugs.
Pfizer has three clinical and several preclinical weight-loss drugs in its pipeline, Dolsten said.
"The most advanced of them, danuglipron, has demonstrated good (effectiveness) in a twice-daily formulation, and we believe a once-daily formulation has the potential to have a competitive profile in the oral GLP-1 space," he said in a written statement.
But Leerink's Risinger kept his market perform rating on Pfizer stock. He notes in earlier testing danuglipron showed low potency as a weight-loss drug. So, once-daily administration could require multiple pills per day at one time, he said.
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