Pfizer Stock Rises as Company Advances Studies of Once-a-Day Weight-Loss Pill

Shares of Pfizer (PFE) advanced as the drug maker announced that it was moving forward with research into a potential once-a-day weight-loss pill.

The company said that following tests into the modified release formulation for its drug, danuglipron, it has chosen one for dose optimization studies this year. Pfizer added that it will be “evaluating multiple doses of the preferred modified release formulation to inform the registration enabling studies.”

Danuglipron contains the same GLP-1 receptor agonists found in Novo Nordisk’s (NVO) Ozempic and Wegovy, and Eli Lilly’s (LLY) Mounjaro obesity medicines. However, those are injectables, and pharmaceutical companies have been in a race to find a way to get the same result in an oral treatment.

In December, Pfizer suspended testing of a twice-daily dosage of danuglipron after a Phase-2b trial showed that while effective in reducing weight, it had a high incident of adverse side effects. The company said then that it would focus instead on a once-a-day pill.

Dr. Mikael Dolsten, chief scientific officer and president of Pfizer Research and Development, said that based on the earlier results and this new data, “we believe that with the preferred modified release formulation and future trial design optimization, we can advance a competitive oral GLP-1 molecule into registration enabling studies.”

Pfizer shares were up 1.6% at $28.80 in early-afternoon trading Thursday. If the stock holds these gains, it would be back into positive territory for the year.