Analysts estimate that the global weight loss market will reach a size of up to $100 billion. Swiss pharmaceutical giant Roche recently announced that it has agreed to acquire unlisted American weight loss drug developer Carmot Therapeutics for an initial price of $2.7 billion. This means that it entered the weight loss drug market by acquiring "Fast Track", challenging weight loss drug giants Novo Nordisk and Lilly. Roche stated that according to the trading contract, the transaction is expected to be completed in the first quarter of 2024. If Carmot Therapeutics achieves individual milestones with its drugs, the company's shareholders can receive $400 million.
Multiple giants are intensifying their layout in the weight-loss drug market
After the transaction is completed, Roche will acquire all current clinical and preclinical assets of Carmot Therapeutics, and employees of Carmot Therapeutics will also join Roche's pharmaceutical department. For Roche, this transaction marks the company's return to the GLP-1 field. Previously, in 2018, Roche abandoned the GLP-1 field when its subsidiary sold a patent for an experimental drug to Lilly for a prepayment of $50 million.
It is reported that Carmot Therapeutics is an American biotechnology company in the clinical stage. Last month, Carmot Therapeutics just submitted its prospectus for listing on NASDAQ and is now being acquired by Roche. Public information shows that Carmot Therapeutics is committed to the development of metabolic disease drugs. At present, the company's products include subcutaneous and oral incretin drugs, which help to treat obesity in diabetes and non diabetes patients and multiple preclinical plans.
In the second half of this year, there were frequent acquisition transactions in the weight loss drug market. In July of this year, Lilly acquired the unlisted Versanis for up to $1.93 billion to further expand its weight loss drug product line; Last month, AstraZeneca agreed to purchase exclusive rights to the development and commercialization of oral GLP-1 weight loss products produced by Chinese biotech company Eccogene for up to $2 billion.
Weight loss pills are selling well, and Novo Nordisk's net profit increased by 43% year-on-year in the first half of the year
Novo Nordisk's previously released financial report for the first half of 2023 showed that during the reporting period, its net sales were 107.667 billion Danish kroner, compared to 83.296 billion Danish kroner in the same period last year, a year-on-year increase of 29%; The net profit was 39.242 billion Danish kroner, compared to 27.528 billion Danish kroner in the same period last year, an increase of 43% year-on-year. Novo Nordisk has raised its annual profit and sales expectations. The CEO of the company said in a statement that Novo Nordisk had raised its annual performance forecast based on the strong demand of the market for diabetes and obesity drugs. The company now serves more patients than ever before.
From the perspective of product line, the sales of diabetes and obesity care increased by 36% to DKK 99 billion, of which the sales of diabetes drug GLP-1 increased by 49%, and the sales of obesity care drugs surged by 158% to DKK 18.1 billion.