Amgen cancels experimental weight-loss pill, moves forward with injections

Amgen The US drugmaker said on Thursday that it will stop developing its experimental weight-loss pill and will instead move forward with production of its injectable drug and other products in development to treat obesity.

Amgen is among several drugmakers racing to join the weight-loss drug-dominated field Novo Nordisk And Eli LillyWhich some analysts say could be worth $100 billion by the end of the decade. But the company has other opportunities to capture a slice of the market.

“Given the profile we saw with (the oral drug), we will not pursue further development. Instead, in obesity, we are differentially invested in MariTide and a number of preclinical assets,” said Jay Bradner, chief scientific officer at Amgen. he said during an earnings call on Thursday.

Amgen is developing an injectable obesity treatment called MariTide, which is in an ongoing mid-stage trial in obese or overweight adults without diabetes. The company will release preliminary data from that 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 of the treatment. Amgen said on Thursday that it plans to conduct a phase 2 trial of the drug in treating diabetes as well.

Amgen shares rose more than 10% in extended trading Thursday after the comment on MariTide.

Amgen also has other medications in development for weight management.

The company's oral medication, called AMG-786, is the second weight-loss pill to be discontinued in the past year.

Last December, Pfizer canceled the twice-daily version of its obesity pill, danoglibron, after patients had difficulty tolerating the drug in a mid-stage trial. The company is now working on developing a once-a-day version of this drug.

Investors are laser focused on Amgen's pipeline of experimental weight loss treatments. Amgen hopes to stand out among the crowded field of potential players with a different style.

The company's experimental injection helps people lose weight differently than existing injectable medications. Much like Novo Nordisk's Wegovy and Eli Lilly's Zepbound, part of Amgen's treatment 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 not only targets GIP, which suppresses appetite like GLP-1, but it may also improve how the body breaks down sugar and fat.

Amgen's injectable treatment also appears to help patients maintain weight after they stop taking it based on some clinical trial data. The drug company is also testing the drug to be taken once a month or even less frequently, which may provide greater relief than weekly medications on the market.

Patients who got the highest dose of Amgen's MariTide drug — 420 milligrams — each month lost an average of 14.5% of their body weight in just 12 weeks, according to data from a phase 1 trial published in February in the journal Nature Metabolism.

Also on Thursday, Amgen reported first-quarter revenue and adjusted earnings that beat Wall Street expectations, due in part to products from its recently acquired Horizon Therapeutics.

Here's what Amgen reported for the first quarter compared to what Wall Street was expecting, based on a survey of analysts conducted by LSEG:

EPS: $3.96 vs. $3.87 expected Revenue: $7.45 billion vs. $7.44 billion expected

Amgen reported a net loss of $113 million, or 21 cents per share. This compares to net income of $2.84 billion, or $5.28 per share, in the same period a year earlier.

Excluding certain items, the company reported earnings of $3.96 per share.

Amgen generated revenue of $7.45 billion in the first quarter, an increase of 22% from the same period last year.

This includes $914 million from Horizon Therapeutics' products, including treatment for the thyroid eye disease TEBIZA.

Excluding drugs from Horizon Therapeutics, Amgen said sales of its products increased 6% from the same period last year. Ten products achieved double-digit volume growth during the first quarter, including cardiovascular drug Repatha, severe asthma treatment Tezspire, and Blincyto, a treatment for certain types of blood cancer.

Amgen narrowed its full-year guidance slightly from the bottom on Thursday as well.

The company expects its revenues for 2024 to range from $32.5 billion to $33.8 billion. This compares to previous guidance of $32.4 billion to $33.8 billion.

Amgen expects full-year adjusted earnings of between $19 and $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.