Structure Therapeutics' stock jumps on weight-loss-pill trial results

By Eleanor Laise

GLP-1 drugs in pill form could improve the medications' accessibility and affordability, analysts say

Structure Therapeutics Inc.'s American depositary receipts (GPCR) gained more than 6% premarket on Monday after the company said its experimental weight-loss pill achieved its aims in a clinical trial.

Patients taking the pill, GSBR-1290, lost an average of 6.2% of their body weight after three months, Structure said in a release. One out of three trial participants taking the once-daily pill lost 10% or more of their body weight, the company said.

In a separate study designed to assess a new tablet form of the drug, patients lost an average of 6.9% of their body weight after three months.

Based on the results after three months of treatment, GSBR-1290 "delivers compelling obesity efficacy" and looks comparable to Eli Lilly & Co.'s (LLY) experimental weight-loss pill orforglipron, Leerink Partners analyst David Risinger said in a note Monday.

Like the popular Novo Nordisk (NVO) injectable drugs Ozempic and Wegovy, Structure's GSBR-1290 is a GLP-1 receptor agonist - but in a form that can easily be taken orally. Patients and investors have been watching for potential pill versions of the GLP-1 drugs to make the medications cheaper and more accessible. Pills could also serve as maintenance medications once patients achieve their target weight on injectable drugs, analysts say.

While surging demand and manufacturing constraints have led to shortages of Wegovy and other anti-obesity medications, Structure said Monday that it doesn't anticipate similar problems. The company's "large-scale manufacturing process is expected to be more than capable of meeting the anticipated global demand of a product with the profile of GSBR-1290," Chief Executive Raymond Stevens said in a statement.

Like other drugs in the class, Structure's GSBR-1290 is linked with some gastrointestinal side effects. The most common side effects were nausea and vomiting, Structure said. About 5% of patients in the obesity study and 11% of those in the tablet study dropped out of the trial due to side effects, the company said.

Structure said it plans to launch a phase 2b study of the GSBR-1290 tablet in the fourth quarter of this year.

Structure's ADR has dropped 16% in the year to date, while the S&P 500 SPX has gained 10.6%.

-Eleanor Laise

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06-03-24 0842ET

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