A booming market for weight loss drugs has put investors' focus firmly on the pharmaceutical sector.
Eli Lilly, the maker of blockbuster obesity drugs Zepbound and Mounjaro, could become the first $1 trillion pharma stock after having surged over 72% only in the past 12 months. Its main rival Novo Nordisk has followed a similar path.
Upcoming results from a bunch of clinical trials could extend the rally stocks have already been enjoying the past few years.
The lucrative market is both growing and widening as new health benefits from obesity and diabetes drugs are confirmed, and competitors race to enter the market. Meanwhile, drugs targeting other health concerns are rapidly progressing, too.
From cancer drugs to Alzheimer's treatments, here are 6 companies set to report clinical trial results in the near future investors would do well to watch.
Novo Nordisk
The Wegovy and Ozempic maker is set to release Phase 3 results for two large trials -- Redefine 1 & 2 -- later this year. The 68-week trials began late 2022 and early 2023 and are investigating an obesity treatment, CagriSema, on people who are obese, with and without Type 2 diabetes.
CagriSema is a once-weekly shot which combines the active ingredient from Wegovy (semaglutide) with amylin analogue, which, according to earlier results, seems to be effective in lowering blood sugar levels.
Amgen
California-based Amgen has an experimental drug for obesity and diabetes in its pipeline called maridebart cafraglutide, or MariTide, which it has indicated will move to a Phase 3 trial. Phase 2 top line data is expected late 2024, likely shedding further light on the development of the medicine.
A Phase 3 trial can take over a year but, if successful, could make Amgen one of the most promising challengers to the Novo and Lilly duopoly.
AbbVie
AbbVie completed its acquisition of Cerevel Therapeutics in August this year, in a $9 million bet on Cerevel's experimental medicine for Schizophrenia. Two clinical trials -- EMPOWER 1 & 2--are set to reveal results by the end of the year. The trials test three doses of the drug emraclidine, targeting symptoms associated with Schizophrenia within a period of six weeks.
IGC Pharma
IGC pharma released positive interim results of its ongoing Phase 2 trial for its drug IGC-AD1 as treatment for agitation in dementia from Alzheimer's disease, a common symptom among Alzheimer's patients.
Results showed a statistically significant reduction in agitation levels compared to placebo, suggesting it can address an unmet medical need, IGC said. Additional positive data could allow the company to speed up clinical trials and approvals from the FDA.
Moderna
Moderna became a household name when it developed a Covid-19 vaccine, but its path to profitability post-Covid-19 has looked somewhat uncertain.
A new mRNA vaccine for Cytomegalovirus -- one of the most common viruses in the world with cold-like symptoms -- could change that. Cytomegalovirus doesn't always cause illness but could be dangerous for babies or people with weakened immune system.
Interim results for its late-stage trial is expected by year-end and will likely inform investors if it has the potential to be Moderna's new big seller.
Summit Therapeutics
This small biopharma company has a market valuation of barely $11 million and big ambitions. It's developing a cancer drug that has the potential to outperform one of the most lucrative drugs ever, Merck's Keytruda, it said in May.
The drug is called Ivonescimab and is being developed in partnership with China-based biotech Akeso. Ivonescimab is under further evaluation in various Phase 3 studies for treating lung cancer.
