Altimmune To Take a look at Investigational GLP-1–Primarily based Weight problems Drug for Alcohol Use Dysfunction
Altimmune is trying to compete with the bigwigs in weight problems, increasing the testing of its GLP-1/glucagon agonist into sufferers with alcohol-related problems. Throughout a digital R&D occasion hosted Thursday, the corporate mentioned a Section II trial of pemvidutide for alcohol use dysfunction (AUD) will begin throughout the second quarter of this 12 months, whereas one other Section II trial for alcohol-related liver illness will start within the third quarter.
“In our view, AUD and [alcohol-related liver disease] are logical extensions for analysis of pemvidutide’s efficacy, given its mechanisms of motion,” William Blair analysts Andy Hsieh and Alexandra Ramsey mentioned in a observe to buyers early Friday. Shares of the corporate are up about 4% this morning following the information.
On the R&D occasion, Altimmune highlighted the hyperlink between each alcohol use and weight problems in exacerbating injury to the liver. The first endpoint for the liver illness examine will likely be liver stiffness, a proxy for liver well being that’s much less invasive than a biopsy, whereas the first endpoint for the AUD examine will likely be change within the variety of heavy consuming days after 24 weeks of therapy.
Altimmune is now the newest in a collection of weight problems drugmakers attempting to broaden indications into alcohol use. Eli Lilly has its GLP-1 agonist mazdutide in a Section II trial for AUD, whereas Novo Nordisk is testing the effectiveness of semaglutide, an amylin analogue and an FGF21 analogue in alcoholic liver illness. Therapy of liver injury is the trial’s major endpoint, with alcohol use as a secondary endpoint.
Final summer season, Altimmune unveiled knowledge from its Section II MOMENTUM trial testing pemvidutide in weight problems, touting 15.6% weight reduction on the drug’s highest dose. The corporate tried to distinguish that outcome from different weight problems medicine by noting that solely about one-fifth of that weight reduction was attributable to lack of lean muscle mass, whereas the remainder was fats loss. Altimmune can also be testing pemvidutide within the Section II IMPACT examine in metabolic dysfunction-associated steatohepatitis (MASH).
The corporate is looking for a accomplice to assist push pemvidutide into Section III trials, in keeping with the William Blair analysts.
