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Pfizer on Friday said it was stopping development of a twice-daily oral obesity medication after an underwhelming clinical trial, a blow to the company’s efforts to compete in the booming field of weight-loss medications.

The medicine, danuglipron, met its primary target in a placebo-controlled Phase 2b trial, leading to a statistically significant amount of weight lost, the company said. But the weight reductions were smaller than those seen in trials of rival medicines targeting the same GLP-1 pathway, and a high rate of patients experienced side effects and dropped out of the trial.

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Pfizer said it would not move twice-daily danuglipron into Phase 3 trials, but that instead it would focus on a once-daily formulation, which is currently undergoing pharmacokinetic studies. Data are expected in the first half of 2024.

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