firstwordpharma.com
Metsera shares jumped more than 10% Monday after the obesity-focused biotech reported encouraging Phase I results for MET-233i, a once-monthly amylin analogue that could emerge as a serious contender in the weight-loss drug market currently dominated by weekly GLP-1 treatments like Novo Nordisk's Wegovy (semaglutide) and Eli Lilly's Zepbound (tirzepatide).
The Phase I trial enrolled 80 overweight or obese participants without type 2 diabetes, evaluating single doses from 0.15 mg to 2.4 mg, and multiple doses from 0.15 mg to 1.2 mg given once weekly over five weeks without titration.
In the single-dose portion, patients receiving 2.4 mg
lost an average 5.3% of their body weight compared to placebo at day 8, with "substantial weight loss" maintained more than four weeks after dosing, according to Metsera. In the multiple-dose arm, patients on the highest 1.2-mg dose lost a placebo-subtracted 8.4% on average by day 36, with some individuals seeing reductions as high as 10.2%...
Gastrointestinal side effects were mild and primarily confined to the first week of dosing, with no serious adverse events reported. The company plans to test MET-233i both as monotherapy and combined with MET-097i, potentially creating the "first monthly multi-NuSH [nutrient stimulated hormone] combination," Marso added...