Is Pfizer on Track to Launch Its Next Lipitor -- This Time in the Weight-Loss Market?
Key Points
Pfizer has regrouped in the GLP-1 space and is now working on a long-acting drug option.
The company's update on the drug's development progress suggests it can compete with GLP-1 drugs from Eli Lilly and Novo Nordisk.
Humans are very bad at taking medications. By some estimates, adherence to long-term chronic medication treatment plans is only around 50%. This is a big issue for GLP-1 weight-loss drugs, which must be taken for life and as often as daily. Pfizer (NYSE: PFE) is betting that making a more convenient option will give it a leg up on the competition.
Pfizer is way behind the GLP-1 pack
Pfizer has a problem when it comes to GLP-1 weight-loss drugs. Novo Nordisk (NYSE: NVO) was the first to market with its Wegovy shot. Eli Lilly's (NYSE: LLY) Zepbound and Mounjaro came out next, but proved more effective and quickly became the industry-leading GLP-1 weight-loss drugs. Pfizer gave up on its own option and was forced to go back to the drawing board by acquiring a company with a more attractive GLP-1 drug candidate.
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While Novo Nordisk and Eli Lilly are now competing with each other with GLP-1 pills, Pfizer is still trying to get a GLP-1 drug out the door. But it has an ace up its sleeve. The company's Berobenatide is taken monthly, compared with competitors' weekly injections or the daily pills they are now selling. Taking a medication roughly 12 times a year could materially increase adherence rates.
Pfizer's GLP-1 drug isn't on the market yet
Like all pharmaceutical companies, Pfizer must go through the approval process before it can market Berobenatide. And while the latest update from the company is from a phase three trial, it still has a lot more work to do before it can start competing with Eli Lily and Novo Nordisk. So investors have to take the update with a grain of salt. However, it appears that Berobenatide provides similar or better weight-loss benefits to competing GLP-1 drugs.
Similar results and a less frequent medication regimen could help Pfizer become a main player in the GLP-1 space, even though it is late to the party. That said, Novo Nordisk and Eli Lilly aren't exactly sitting around doing nothing, so more GLP-1 developments are likely from this pair, as well. Still, obesity is a problem that affects a material number of people, so there's likely room for multiple drugs. Consumers and medical providers will select the ones that best serve their unique needs.
In other words, don't give up on Pfizer because it doesn't have a GLP-1 drug just yet. Given the positive update on Berobenatide, it could just be a matter of time before it does, offering consumers a drug regimen that's easier to adhere to.
Reuben Gregg Brewer has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Eli Lilly, Novo Nordisk, and Pfizer. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.