William Blair initiated research coverage of Altimmune, Inc. (ALT $5.91), BioAge Labs, Inc. (BIOA $4.18), Corbus Pharmaceuticals Holdings, Inc. (CRBP $7.50), Skye Bioscience, Inc. (SKYE $2.89), Structure Therapeutics, Inc. (GPCR $21.09), Terns Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (TERN $3.71), and Zealand Pharma A/S (ZEAL-CSE DKK 719.00).
With the publication of a comprehensive report titled Shaping the Future: Innovations and Trends in Obesity Treatment and accompanying reports initiating coverage of the seven companies, analyst Andy Hsieh, Ph.D., extended William Blair’s research coverage in the biotechnology industry. The industry report includes a scoring algorithm that incorporates the velocity of weight loss and adverse event profile to better assess the competitiveness of investigational agents.
“In the past three years, investors’ perception of the obesity space has drastically transformed,” Dr. Hsieh said. “Obesity was previously viewed as a condition that was unamenable to therapeutic intervention, primarily due to suboptimal tolerability and modest efficacy. However, the commercial success of Novo Nordisk’s Wegovy and Eli Lilly’s Zepbound has propelled the obesity space into a secular growth opportunity that could last until the next decade. Taking into account obesity and its associated comorbidities, we estimate that anti-obesity medication could reach over $100 billion in global sales, pending a more accommodative reimbursement landscape.”
Concerning the newly initiated companies, Dr. Hsieh said, “Altimmune is advancing pemvidutide, a dual GLP-1/glucagon receptor agonist, with a dual mechanism of action that could have beneficial impacts on both weight loss through the GLP-1 component and liver health by targeting glucagon, which is supported, in our view, by clinical results.
“BioAge is investigating a novel approach with its BGE-102, an oral small-molecule NLRP3 inhibitor that could be used to treat obesity through an anti-inflammatory mechanism. We believe that clinical validation is needed, but see potential for mechanisms that reduce neuroinflammation, such as NLRP3 inhibition, to be effective approaches for weight loss medications.
“Corbus is initially pursuing cervical cancer as the target indication for its lead antibody-drug conjugate (ADC) CRB-701. Beyond CRB-701, Corbus is advancing a cannabinoid 1 (CB1) receptor inverse agonist, CRB-913, for the treatment of obesity. CRB-913 is a small molecule that was designed to be highly peripherally restricted, which could avoid many of the adverse events that plagued first-generation versions, but the program is still in early development. Skye is also advancing a CB1 receptor inverse agonist/antagonist with its candidate nimacimab. We believe that CB1R inverse agonists/antagonists represent a promising modality that could serve as either an alternative or combination partner for GLP-1 receptor agonists.
“Structure is advancing GSBR-1290, an oral small-molecule GLP-1 receptor agonist (GLP-1 RA) that we believe can complement other GLP-1 RAs in the treatment of obesity. Beyond what we view as encouraging clinical weight loss data, we believe that a material competitive advantage of GSBR-1290’s small-molecule format is the potential for more efficient and cost-effective manufacturing and scalability compared to injectable peptides. We also recognize that GSBR-1290 could serve as a backbone for combination regimens—a current trend in the field—and provide a convenient option for maintenance dosing and an alternative to injectable therapy.
“Terns is focused on simultaneously advancing an allosteric inhibitor, TERN-701, for chronic myeloid leukemia, and a small-molecule oral GLP-1 receptor agonist, TERN-601, in obesity. While initial TERN-701 results were intriguing, it is our view that a larger patient database, along with longer follow-up, will best inform the prospects of the program. Specific to TERN-601, we believe investors have gravitated toward small-molecule agonists resembling the orforglipron scaffold. As a result, a better-than-consensus competitive clinical profile from assets within the ‘danuglipron pharmacophore,’ which TERN-601 belongs to, would be required to challenge that consensus view.
“Zealand is advancing petrelintide, an amylin receptor agonist. In addition to the potential for clinically meaningful weight loss, targeting amylin could enhance the gastrointestinal tolerability profile relative to the GLP-1 receptor class of drugs and improve body composition by limiting loss of lean body mass. Furthermore, we believe the mechanism is clinically validated by cagrilintide from Novo Nordisk. Beyond petrelintide, we believe that survodutide, being developed by partner Boehringer Ingelheim, will likely provide a source of more near-term revenue in obesity with metabolic dysfunction-associated steatohepatitis, or MASH.”
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