Boehringer Ingelheim announced on Tuesday that its experimental obesity drug achieved an average weight loss of up to 16.6% in a late-stage clinical trial. The privately held German drugmaker is aiming to strengthen its position in the highly competitive obesity treatment market, where leaders such as Eli Lilly and Company and Novo Nordisk currently dominate with their established therapies.
The Phase III trial showed patients treated with survodutide lost 16.6% of their body weight after 76 weeks, compared with 3.2% in a placebo group, Boehringer said in a statement.
Boehringer Ingelheim’s experimental obesity drug survodutide works by mimicking the appetite-suppressing gut hormone GLP-1, the same pathway targeted by injectable treatments such as Wegovy from Novo Nordisk. In addition to GLP-1 activity, survodutide also acts on the gut hormone glucagon, a dual mechanism that some researchers believe could lead to greater weight loss outcomes compared to single-hormone therapies.
Boehringer Ingelheim CEO Shashank Deshpande told Reuters that the glucagon component may help the drug stand out in the competitive obesity treatment market, as it not only focuses on overall weight reduction but may also improve the quality of weight loss achieved by patients.
“With the GLP‑1 component you have appetite reduction and thus weight loss, and with the glucagon component you have a drug that acts directly on liver fat, potentially improving metabolic processes,” Deshpande said.
Boehringer Ingelheim obtained exclusive rights in 2011 to develop and commercialise survodutide from Denmark’s Zealand Pharma, which remains eligible to receive royalty payments from global sales of the drug.
Full results from the Phase III study, named SYNCHRONIZE-1, are expected to be presented at the American Diabetes Association’s 2026 Scientific Sessions, scheduled from June 5 to June 8.
Meanwhile, biotech firm Altimmune is also developing a therapy targeting the same two hormones involved in weight regulation. Earlier in 2024, survodutide showed encouraging mid-stage results in treating fatty liver disease, also known as metabolic dysfunction-associated steatohepatitis (MASH).
Following the news, shares of Zealand Pharma rose 3.5% by 07:32 GMT, reflecting positive investor sentiment around the drug’s potential.
