On Tuesday, Pfizer announced positive results in advanced clinical trials of its experimental weight-loss drug PF'3944, which is designed to be given to the patient only once a month.
Data from the Phase 2 Vesper-3 trial , which included 312 obese or overweight participants, showed that the drug PF'3944, which Pfizer acquired through its acquisition of the biotechnology company Metseira late last year, contributed to a loss of up to 12.3% of total body weight after 28 weeks of treatment, when switching from an initial weekly dose to a monthly dose to maintain the results.
Pfizer announces + Phase 2 results for once a month obesity treatment.
In VESPER-3 the injectable #GLP1 therapy #MET -097i, (now #PF '3944) led to 12.% weight loss vs placebo at 28 weeks. Pts were still losing wt at that time. 64 week data will be presented later.
The results confirmed the effectiveness of the drug PF'3944, which, like current GLP-1 drugs such as Ozempic and Vigovi, mimics a hormone that controls appetite and metabolism, but is designed to stay in the body for a longer period, opening the door to less frequent doses.
The company reported that the recorded side effects were mostly related to the digestive system and are considered normal for this category of treatments.
Pfizer is scheduled to begin 10 large-scale (phase 3) clinical trials in 2026 to definitively evaluate the drug as a weekly and monthly treatment, putting it in direct competition with companies such as Novo Nordisk and Amgen, which are also developing similar long-acting treatments.
