Roche's enicepatide cuts blood sugar, drives 15.5% weight loss in mid-stage trial

Roche's experimental obesity drug enicepatide helped overweight and obese patients with type 2 diabetes bring down their blood sugar levels and shed an average 15.5% of their body weight in a mid-stage trial, the Swiss drugmaker said.

Enicepatide is a once-weekly injection designed to mimic the GLP-1 and GIP hormones, which work to curb appetite and regulate blood sugar. The trial enrolled 447 patients.

Those who received the highest dose of 24 milligrams recorded significant reductions in HbA1c — a measure of blood-glucose levels over time — at 48 weeks, meeting the study's two main goals. Roughly 62% of participants brought their HbA1c below 5.7%, placing their blood sugar in the non-diabetic range.

Discontinuations due to side effects were limited. About 2% of patients on enicepatide stopped treatment for that reason, against none in the placebo group. Most gastrointestinal side effects, common to this class of medicines, were mild to moderate.

The result adds to earlier data. In a mid-stage trial reported in June, enicepatide helped overweight or obese patients without diabetes lose 22.7% of their body weight.

Roche is competing with AstraZeneca and Amgen to enter the obesity drug market, where Eli Lilly and Novo Nordisk are the established leaders. The company is placing its bets on next-generation treatments in a market expected to exceed $100 billion annually within the next decade.

Roche said it plans to begin late-stage glycemic-control and cardiovascular outcomes studies in the first half of 2027.