Merck looks to join the obesity drug frenzy

MERCK & Co is seeking new obesity-fighting drugs called GLP-1s, joining a host of companies angling for a slice of the exploding market.

The drug giant is looking for therapies that provide health benefits for diabetes and other disorders alongside weight loss, chief executive officer Rob Davis said on Thursday (Jan 4) at an investor conference hosted by Goldman Sachs Group. Merck is seeking opportunities through its own drug development as well as deals, he said.

Pioneered by Eli Lilly & Co and Novo Nordisk, weight-loss medications are causing a frenzy among drugmakers, with Amgen and Pfizer conducting studies. Merck has an experimental GLP-1 for non-alcoholic fatty liver disease, which the company will continue to invest in, Davis said, but it failed to recognise the potential in the drugs right away.

“We did not see the GLP-1s early to potentially have the activity they’ve had,” Davis said. Showing benefits beyond weight loss may make it easier to get reimbursement for the drugs, he added.

“If you can show cardiovascular outcome, if you can show a diabetes outcome, which you’re starting to see data for, if you can see fatty liver disease benefits,” he said, “that is an area where we see opportunity”. BLOOMBERG