Global pharmaceutical companies that had entered the competition to develop obesity treatments are gradually pulling out. Following the United States' Pfizer and Amgen, Switzerland's Roche has also halted research on its own obesity treatment candidate.
On the 24th (local time), Roche announced during its second-quarter earnings report for 2025 that it would discontinue the development of the obesity treatment candidate "CT-173." This substance was a key drug candidate that Roche acquired from the American company Carmot Therapeutics for approximately $2.7 billion (3.7 trillion won) at the end of last year. Roche had previously stated plans to make CT-173 the centerpiece of its obesity treatment strategy and was expected to begin Phase 1 clinical trials of the drug on humans within the year.
Roche's CT-173 is not a GLP-1 class drug such as Wegovy or Mountza, which are market leaders in obesity treatment. It is a mimic of the intestinal hormone "peptide YY (PYY)" that suppresses appetite. This hormone is secreted from the small intestine after meals and acts on the brain to induce satiety and reduce food intake, similar to how GLP-1 promotes the secretion of insulin, a hormone that regulates blood sugar levels after meals.
Initially, Roche planned to develop an obesity treatment by combining CT-173 with its dual-action GLP-1 and GIP (gastric inhibitory peptide) drug "CT-388." The idea was that if GLP-1, which promotes insulin secretion, and GIP, which breaks down fat cells and reduces side effects like nausea, worked simultaneously, the weight loss effect would be stronger and more sustained than administering CT-173 alone. At an investor event last September, Roche expressed confidence that this combination had the potential to surpass existing GLP-1 treatments.
However, Roche changed its position after just six months. On that day, Teresa Graham, Roche's Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the Pharma division, said, "As a result of evaluating the development potential and competitiveness of CT-173, we decided to discontinue its development because it did not meet the standards." It was determined that Roche had not secured distinct differentiation and commercial competitiveness.
Roche is not the only global pharmaceutical company withdrawing from the competition to develop obesity treatments. Previously, Pfizer announced in May that it would discontinue the development of its oral obesity treatment candidate "danuglipron." The low-molecular-weight GLP-1 drug caused liver toxicity side effects in some patients, which halted the clinical trials. Pfizer had been conducting clinical trials with the drug taken twice daily but also stopped trials in December 2023.
Amgen has also halted its clinical trials for oral obesity drugs. It is currently focusing on the development of the long-acting obesity treatment injection "mariatide," which is administered once a month. However, this drug has also faced strategic adjustments due to gastrointestinal side effects observed in recent Phase 2 trials.
The primary reason global pharmaceutical companies are withdrawing from the obesity treatment competition is that they are unable to surpass the efficacy of existing GLP-1 class drugs represented by Wegovy and Mountza.
Existing frontrunners are developing technologies that not only enhance weight loss effects but also improve convenience of use by controlling side effects such as vomiting, nausea, and muscle loss. For latecomers, it is challenging to catch up without differentiation in all aspects.
Domestic corporations such as Hanmi Pharmaceutical, D&D Pharmatech, and Dong-A ST are also focusing on technologies that differentiate them from frontrunners in obesity drug development. Notably, Hanmi Pharmaceutical is developing a triple-action drug that targets glucagon (GCG) in addition to GLP-1 and GIP, which helps regulate energy expenditure and lipid metabolism. The company explains that the triple-action drug promotes weight loss while increasing muscle mass.