Pharma Giants Boehringer And Zealand Gear Up For GLP1-RA MASH Competition
Survodutide, a GLP-1/glucagon dual agonist by Zealand, showed significant improvement in fibrosis and MASH in Phase II trials, outperforming placebo.
Breaking News
Jun 13, 2024
Mrudula Kulkarni
A sub-analysis of the Phase II trial (NCT04771273) revealed
that patients who were being treated using survodutide experienced a notable
improvement in their disease status. Specifically, after 48 weeks of treatment,
52.3% of patients with mild to moderate or advanced fibrosis showed
improvement, in contrast to just 25.8% in the placebo group. In addition, with
moderate to advanced fibrosis, 64.5 % of patients experienced an improvement in
liver scarring-related indicators without a worsening of MASH, while only 25.9%
of the placebo group saw similar benefits.
The data from this trial has been eagerly awaited since the
initial announcement was made in February 2024, where it was reported that the
trial had successfully fulfilled its primary objective. The results displayed
that about 83% of adults showed a statistically significant improvement in MASH
when compared to 18.2% in the placebo group. The comprehensive data was
published in the New England Journal of Medicine and presented at the ongoing
European Association for the Study of the Liver Congress (EASL) 2024.The
competition in the MASH treatment field is getting heated up, with Boehringer
and Zealand being competitive with Eli Lilly. On June 8, Eli Lilly announced
that its GLP-1/GIP dual receptor agonist, Mounjaro (tirzepatide), also shows a
significant impact on fibrosis in MASH patients (NCT04166773). The drug helped
in reducing fibrosis by at least one stage in 51.8% of patients after 52 weeks
of treatment at a 5mg dose.
Survodutide, discovered & produced by Zealand, is a dual
agonist of the GLP-1 & glucagon receptors. Boehringer is also analyzing
& studying about survodutide for obesity, having advanced the candidate
into three Phase III trials in August 2023 after positive results came from
earlier studies.