OAN Staff James Meyers
1:53 PM – Tuesday, April 15, 2025
Pfizer announced it is ending its development of its experimental oral GLP-1 drug to treat obesity, the company said on Monday, after a patient in a trial suffered a liver injury potentially caused by the experimental drug known as danuglipron.
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The patient, who was not identified, did not experience any symptoms and their injury was “resolved” after they stopped taking the drug, according to the company.
“While we are disappointed to discontinue the development of danuglipron, we remain committed to evaluating and advancing promising programs in an effort to bring innovative new medicines to patients,” Pfizer’s Chief Scientific Officer Dr. Chris Boshoff said in a statement.
The drug making company reviewed all clinical data for GLP-1 and recent analysis by regulators before making the decision to stop production.
However, Boshoff said Pfizer is going to continue development of another weight loss drug, called GIP antagonist.
Nevertheless, the company said its drug met key trial objectives and “confirmed a formulation and dose with the potential to deliver a competitive efficacy and tolerability profile in Phase 3 testing.”
Additionally, the company stated that the overall frequency of liver enzyme elevations across the 1400-participant safety database of the medicine was in line with other medicines in the class.
Pfizer told CNBC that the trial increased the dose of the pill over a short span of time.
This also comes after the company had scrapped the development of a twice-daily version of the drug in 2023 after trial patients experienced vomiting and nausea.
GLP-1 drugs can cause major weight loss, but are delivered via injection, making them difficult to manufacture. Oral drugs are easier to make and would be more widely available.
Multiple companies are developing weight loss pills after surging popularity of the shots that target an intestinal hormone called GLP-1.
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