Swiss perspectives in 10 languages

Pharma obesity market: Roche seeks deals to challenge Lilly and Novo

Picture of Roche headquarters in Basel
The Swiss drugmaker said on Tuesday that it’s on the hunt for additional biotech partners to help it challenge weight-loss leaders Novo Nordisk A/S and Eli Lilly & Co. © Keystone / Georgios Kefalas

Roche Holding AG isn’t done making moves in the obesity market after last month’s agreement to buy Carmot Therapeutics Inc. for as much as $3.1 billion (CHF2.64 billion).

The Swiss drugmaker said on Tuesday that it’s on the hunt for additional biotech partners to help it challenge weight-loss leaders Novo Nordisk A/S and Eli Lilly & Co. Roche is looking for new ways of adjusting metabolism that could ultimately be combined with treatments it’s gaining in the Carmot deal.

“This is opening up a whole new vista for us,” James Sabry, Roche’s head of partnering, said in an interview on the sidelines of the JPMorgan Healthcare Conference in San Francisco.

More

Carmot was one in a flurry of recent deals Roche has made to bolster its pipeline. The company is also interested in oncology, neurology and ophthalmology as well as cardiovascular medicine, Sabry said. 

While many companies are trying to break into the hot weight-loss market, Sabry said Roche is one of only a handful of suitors with the size and global reach to run the large, costly trials necessary to bring new drugs to market. Marketing obesity medicines is also more complicated than other areas like cancer because drugmakers need to deal with primary-care doctors instead of a few specialised treatment centres, he said.

More

“When we’re trying to get a deal done, we find more competitors in oncology,” he said. “You’d think everyone must be competing with you for metabolism drugs, but it’s not that way.”

Roche was one of the first pharmaceutical companies to work on an experimental drug in the GLP-1 class, a category that includes Novo’s Wegovy and Lilly’s Zepbound. But it halted development more than a decade ago after patients dropped out of a study due to side effects such as nausea.

©2024 Bloomberg L.P.

Popular Stories

Most Discussed

News

Federal Council opposes neutrality initiative

More

Swiss government rejects neutrality initiative

This content was published on It is not necessary to define Swiss neutrality more strictly, according to the Swiss government. The Federal Council has rejected the so-called “neutrality initiative”.

Read more: Swiss government rejects neutrality initiative
TPF acquits UBS in Bulgarian mafia case

More

Swiss court acquits UBS in Bulgarian mafia case

This content was published on The Federal Criminal Court has acquitted UBS following appeal proceedings in connection with money laundering charges linked to the Bulgarian mafia. The bank inherited the case from Credit Suisse.

Read more: Swiss court acquits UBS in Bulgarian mafia case
Timetable change brings more trains during the day and at night

More

New Swiss train schedule offers more night trains

This content was published on The Swiss Federal Railways (SBB/CFF) timetable change on December 15 will bring improvements for commuters. It will also have new night-time connections on long-distance and regional services.

Read more: New Swiss train schedule offers more night trains

In compliance with the JTI standards

More: SWI swissinfo.ch certified by the Journalism Trust Initiative

You can find an overview of ongoing debates with our journalists here . Please join us!

If you want to start a conversation about a topic raised in this article or want to report factual errors, email us at english@swissinfo.ch.

SWI swissinfo.ch - a branch of Swiss Broadcasting Corporation SRG SSR

SWI swissinfo.ch - a branch of Swiss Broadcasting Corporation SRG SSR